#put up one the area above my dvds or move the shelf with my dvds and move it somewhere else

[lilgynt]

i set up shelves during my work from home days this weekend and hehehehehehhe hehehehe having 7/8 shelves already set up with hannibal nonesense and when i get home i can clean more and hehehehehhebe

[shebeafancyflapjack]

Sleepover

(Set shortly after @idiotwithanipad 's A Little Light)

"Hey, I'm back! Told you it wouldn't be...." Amy stopped in her tracks as she passed through the door, frowning and looking around; "Wait..."

"It's not quite finished yet! Just hold on."

Silver held her hands in front of her, closing her eyes and concentrating as hard as she could.

Cheap metal dissolved around a single divan covered in a moave bedspread decorated with stars and moons, with purple and black fluffy pillows against the headboard, along with a dog-eared and well-cuddled Simba plushie.

The Neo Pagan sighed, looking well and truly spent, as if she'd been moving all the furniture around by hand instead of her mind.

"There! I think that's it. As good as I can remember." She smiled at the returning image of her friend, who she still couldn't quite believe she could see and speak too again.

Amy blinked at the room. A rather stark contrast to the dark and damp little chamber they'd conversed in before.

"You...redecorated?"

"Yeah! Took me a couple of tries to figure it out but, well, like I kept telling you guys - I'm a lucid dreamer! And you can astral project, which is so fucking awesome, let's make the most of it!"

Silver was bouncing on the toes of her boots once again, having clearly leapt right to the other extreme of her personality, following Amy's visit and messages from Mary. They'd brought the sparkle back into the witchling's eyes and the color to her cheeks.

She fiddled with the sheafs on her hands as she watched Amy inspect the room.

"There's...a lot of stuff. Holy shit."

She ran a finger up a CD tower that came up past her waist. Then peered at a collection of books on a shelf above a hefty old computer tucked in the corner. Every inch of the lilac walls were covered with posters of Buffy, Linkin Park, Avril Lavigne, Evanescence, Green Day and some other bands and movies Amy didn't recognise.

On the nightstand beside the bed was the smallest witches' altar set up, with a little goddess statue between two black wax candles, and a photo of a dark haired man crouching beside a girl with short brown hair clutching a three month old puppy in her arms.

"Silv. Is this your room?"

The Pagan nodded; "Yeah. Hope you don't mind, it's just...you showed me yours, I wanted to show you mine."

"Shit. You never said you were rich?!"

"I...What? I wasn't rich!" Silver scoffed, blushing a bit.

Maybe her family could be called 'Lower Middle Class', but...

Oh crap. Did Amy think she was showing off? That wasn't what she was going for at all.

But her friend just laughed; "Dude, look at all this stuff! You got computer and a TV in your room! You got a library of books and disks! No wonder you never smoked, you must never have been bored."

Silver chuckled at that.

"And look at that! It's like something off the set of Star Wars." The girl was gawping at her blue lava lamp next to the computer; "And what's this? Is some kinda witchy crystal ball?"

She struggled not to double over as Amy looked over the sphere containing a lines of pink electricity dancing out from the ball in the centre.

"It's a plasma ball, you twit! Put your finger on it!"

Amy did so, her mouth forming an 'O' as the lights commented to her fingertip.

"Ooh! Cool! Alison should get one of these for...."

They both locked eyes, Silver gripping the fluff of her blanket. Amy cleared her throat and moved away from the ball.

"Okay, just to be clear - most of the things you're seeing were second hand." Explained Silver, changing the subject; "The computer is like...three years old? My brother gave it to me after he got his laptop, and the fan on it sounds like a jet engine. Same with the TV, which has a VHS tape stuck in that no one can get out."

"A V-what?"

"Those dvds shaped like rectangles."

"Oh, right." Amy nodded; "Still, c'mon. It's a pretty sweet room, that's all I'm saying."

Silver shrugged; "Yeah, well...It was the one area in the house that was mine and I could do what I wanted in." She sat down on the divan, running her finger over the soft purple blanket at the foot; "Every time I stepped outside or tried to watch tv in the living room, my family made me feel like shit. So if it was better to stay in here, needed to make it cosy, y'know. And...I guess I was lucky enough to have enough money to do it up how I wanted."

"See? Rich cow!" Amy teased.

"It was my Dad's life insurance."

Her friend pursed her lips at that; "Oh. Fuck. Sorry."

"S'fine. Mum...my living Mum, was at least decent enough to give me an allowance for my chores." Silver confessed, "Wasn't much use for anything else mums are meant to do, but guess I can be grateful she never let me starve...I did that all to myself."

Amy took a seat on the bean bag chair stuffed in the corner next to the little grey box of a TV behind her.

"Wanna talk self harm? Try topping ripping your own skin off till your arteries are on display."

Silver stared at her with eyes like a rabbit in headlights. It made Amy snort.

"Relax! Mary stopped me. And it's not like I was in any real danger...Just kinda needed that release, you know?" She admitted, "It's...not been easy for me. There."

"But...you said you were okay? I thought were in like....Heaven?"

"I am, we are...It's just not playing harps on clouds like in the cartoons. Thank fuck because that sounds boring as shit. It's just...It's really hard to describe." Her friend frowned; "It's like a living dream. Mary and Annie keep telling me it's a paradise...and yeah it looked pretty amazing when I first arrived. But it's also like...whatever you want it to be? And...well I guess, moody bitch that I am, being separated from you and Humphrey, I wanted..."

"...Hell?" Asked Silver.

Amy snorted; "Trust me to be the one stupid cow that could ruin Heaven!"

Silver wished she could nudge her friend or give her a half-hearted hug. She watched Amy's fingers smooth over bean bag cover.

Humming, curious, she grabbed her Lion King plushie and chucked it at the other girl's head.

"Hey! What the...?" She exclaimed, frowning as the beloved teddy fell into her lap.

"Just wanted to test a theory." Silver grinned.

"Cow. What did Simba do to deserve that?"

"Collateral damage." She shrugged, then looked down at her lap; "Speaking of....Did you see your dad?"

Amy went quiet, stroking the patch of fur on Simba's head, matted after many trips in the washing machine.

She nodded, a twitch of a smile on her lips.

"It's okay. You don't have to tell me about it. It's between you two."

"Thanks, mate." Said Amy, her voice breaking a little.

Silver could still see pain on her friend's face. It was enough to surmise that, even if making that connection had helped Amy a little, it was still agony to be separated from him. Understandable. As grateful as she was to have this 'crossing' to interact with her best mate again, her absence would still be felt when she woke up.

"And....Robin?" She couldn't hide the distaste in her voice as she said that name.

Amy shook her head; "Not yet. I'm still...getting the hang of how to do this with different people. Reaching Dad was a bit tougher than you. S'like you put up less walls for me to break through than he had around him."

Made sense. Humphrey had quite literally shut himself off from the others, both emotionally and locking himself in Amy's room.

"And when I tried to look in on Robin...well. Let's just say there's not so much walls around his head, more like a cave. In a mountain. On fucking Mars."

"Should've seen that coming." Silver clicked her tongue; "Well don't feel the need to rush on my account."

The dejected monotone sound of her voice caught Amy's attention.

"What really happened, Silv?" She asked, "I only know what Mary said he did."

She shrugged; "Not much else to say."

"I know, but...It's Robin, you know? Our Robin. Big, silly, fluffy, man-puppy Robin who loves practical jokes and dispensing random wisdom!"

"Maybe we don't know him as well as we thought?" Silver mused, looking at her thin lavender curtains, "I mean...the dude has killed people. To survive, sure, but there was also that thing with Hat. And you know he was all on board for killing Alison, to start. Then again, so was Mary, so maybe I just have a habit of attracting problematic parental figures..."

"Maybe. But...they do love you though. I'm sure of that. Or at least, I am with Mary. I just can't imagine Robin..."

"Might be easier to show you. Then you can come up to your own conclusions."

Silver reached into the drawer of random crap in the table next to her bed and fished out a remote.

Closing her eyes, she clutched the device between her palms and focused, as she had when manifesting the items in the bedroom.

Pressing the On button, she pointed it towards the fat TV, which lit up with a burst of static, before showing a first person POV of Robin, looking straight at the screen. Amy moved from the bean bag chair over to the edge of the bed.

Silver pressed the rewind button, to show the context of what occurred in the build up to their fight.

Humphrey's body clinging to her. Their silent communication as they sat listening to Cap's long winded story.

Then Robin bringing in Humphrey's head. Humphrey's heart visibly breaking.

Silver lashing out at the others as they stared at her in judgement. The way they turned their backs to walk away.

Humphrey asking her to leave him alone. Both of him.

And all the while, Robin standing there in the corner. Watching.

In the bedroom, Silver said nothing as the argument played out again, letting Amy watch it for herself. Her plea to know why Robin had to do it like that. Robin's assertion it was for her own good. The escalating shouts. She cringes, feeling a little bad, knowing how much her friend hates arguments. It seems longer than she remembered it, too.

More swearing. More hurtful accusations. Then Robin looking as bestial as either of them have known as he's there, in her face, telling her about what Mary did. Then Silver's slap knocking him back. The flash of regret on his weathered face.

Then the screen goes blank, and they're back staring at a grey mirror of themselves.

"....Shit. That was brutal..." Amy gulped, having tugged her hoodie up at some point during the raised voices.

It hadn't helped Silver feel any better to watch the replay.

"Maybe...maybe I shouldn't have said that thing about him forgetting how to be human." She winced; "You know he can get pretty sensitive when someone calls him an animal-."

"Bullshit!" Amy cut her off; "You were right to call him out for that, acting all high and mighty, making out like that was the right thing when all it did was make you and Dad feel even more shitty! It's no excuse for him breaking his promise to Mary and letting you think she didn't...Well. You can tell him yourself that's a load of crap, straight from the woman herself!"

Silver smiled at that, feeling a warmth in her chest as she remembered Mary's last message to her.

Amy tossed Simba back into her arms.

"Don't worry. Leave the annoying fluff to me. He'll be grovelling for your forgiveness by the time I'm done with him."

Silver shook her head, giving the plushie a hug; "Honestly....I really don't give a toss about Robin. You just saw my perspective there. I'm sure he has his own reasons for what he said but...I just can't be bothered to care."

Despite the words, her tone was no longer defeated or hopeless.

"I'm just excited to wake up and nag Julian to call Alison. So I can get the paperwork done and officially be Silver Guppy. Hehehe." She grinned, looking well and truly like a giddy teenager as she sat cross-legged on her childhood bed; "And I'm gonna talk to Humphrey. Whole Humphrey. He's the one who I hurt and the one whose feelings I care about helping right now."

"He's not mad at you. You know that, right?" Amy assured.

"I know, but...I'm mad at me. He can take as long as he wants to forgive me, I can accept that. But I wanna try and be there for him. Both parts." She explained; "You know, before this whole mess, I went to visit him in your room, his head bit....We actually had a really sweet moment. I gave him space after because I thought that's what he wanted, but-."

"Word of advice? Humphrey's not the sort of guy who asks for attention. Especially when he really needs it." Said Amy.

"So he's like....the Anti-Thomas?"

"Pretty much."

They both laughed at that. Silver felt a little more confident about facing the Tudor when she awoke now. She'd dedicate the rest of her afterlife to trying to look after him in Amy's absence if she needed to, whether he thought of her as a friend or not. He deserved better than to be left alone in the dark.

A fate she knew all too well.

"How much longer do you have?" Silver asked her friend.

"As long as you want. Time works roughly the same up there as the old world...but dreams are weird."

"Preaching to the choir." She smiled; "...Wanna play some games?"

"Sure. What you got?"

Silver shuffled forward and retrieved a purple cube with a handle from a cabinet, setting it out and unravelling many tangled black wires.

"What is that?!" Amy pointed at the box.

"It's a Gamecube! The best console ever! Please tell me Nintendo still existed when you died."

"Oh, is it like...an old Wii?"

"Dude, the Wii was literally just a Gamecube with motion controls." She said, having watched Mike play some Mariokart with his friend Obi one time. "Here, this is a classic. The first Resident Evil, remade!"

She pressed the button and brought the wired controller up onto the bed, the two girls laying on their front on the edge of bed.

"Damn, check out those graphics. It's like watching the first Toy Story." Amy commented.

"Oi, this was like cutting edge realism in my day!"

"Dude, you can see all the angles on their jackets. And all those rocks in the background are blurred together."

"Shut up or I won't let you shoot any zombies!"

Funny enough, in life she'd never had a friend come up to her room to play video games with her. Even her brother wasn't interested, preferring to stick to playing GTA on his own console. Silver watched, amused, as Amy took the controller for the first part, controlling Jill Valentine as she explores the zombie infested mansion.

Quietly, she sent a prayer up to whatever god had blessed her with this chance to still spend time with her friend, despite being separated by two worlds. For a brief moment, her heart panged for Robin, who she doubted in all these years had a chance to speak to those he lost. Then the sympathy passed; perhaps that was what happened when you built a literal cave around your heart.

She would never let herself become that. Never shut herself off from feeling what it means to be human. To love, to lose, to grieve, to make silly mistakes with the best of intentions. She'd take friendship over cold, hard wisdom any day.

"Fucking TWAT!" Amy cursed as she failed to shoot one creature in time as it grabbed Jill and sunk it's teeth into her neck; "What is up with this shit camera?! This game is rigged!"

"We can play Animal Crossing if you prefer?"

"Fuck off, I'm blowing this assholes head off." She said, determined, making Silver giggle.

[hotxcheeto]

Fluffy imagine where reader is cuddling and baking with Ellie 😩 Reader makes fun of Ellie telling her she’s too vanilla and then 👺 dirty smut cuz Ellie gets triggered👺

━ 𝐌𝐔𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐍 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄

Pairing(s) - Ellie Williams x G/N!Reader Warnings - Cursing, Choking, Heavy make-out, Semi-smut

A/n - I only do semi-smut so I hope you like this! I did do more at the end then I thought I would.. and I kinda liked it ;) Also taking requests for Arcane now!

"Do you ever wonder if fish have thoughts?" "Ellie it is ten o'clock in the morning." You muttered keeping your eyes closed. You felt her breath fanning your face, keeping your skin warm from the wintery air. "I mean c'mon, they obviously get freaked out." You opened your eyes rather suddenly looking into Ellie's while sitting up. "Sometimes I wonder if you know how to listen." Ellie grinned and shook her head.

"Nope." You groaned, shoving your face into her chest as you relaxed once again, ready to get a few more minutes, or hours, of sleep. "I'm hungry." You groaned and rolled over so your back faced your girlfriend, snuggling into your own cold pillow which had gone mostly unused. "Babe." She dragged the word out moving right up to your back laying her chin on your shoulder.

"You smell good." You opened your eyes again and slowly turned your head to look at Ellie. "I'm gonna hit you." "You would never." "For my sleep I will." You closed your eyes again, her head not moving from your shoulder, her eyes examining your face. "Why're you staring at me?" "Cause." Finally you rolled over on your back, looking up at a smiling, sleepy Ellie who hovered just above you.

"I hate you." "No you don't." "Mmm, yes I do. Now shhh." You put your finger on her lips and closed your eyes again, dropping your hand. A minute of silence passed, Ellie laying her head on your chest. You finally relaxed again, beginning to drift away back into the darkness that was sleep.

Suddenly a pair of chapped lips tickled your cheek, a kiss lightly placed on your skin. You didn't move, not until it happened again and then again.

"Ellie. What are you doing?" "I can't go back to sleep." You opened your eyes for the last time, her face right in front of yours as she stared at you with droopy eyes. "You are infuriating Ellie." "I love you." She muttered, smiling when you smiled at her. "You know what you should do? Get out my stuff so I can make food." Ellie hummed and sat up from the bed, rubbing her face before looking at the darkened TV, asking if they'd like to replay the DVD.

"Can you replay the movie?" You asked quietly from your warm spot under the blankets, Ellie's smile growing when she looked back at you. "Yeah." "Thank you." She hummed standing up and walking over to the DVD player, her eyes slowly moving to your form as you exited the bed, little clothing on your body besides a shirt that was hers and your underwear, reminding you of the events the night before.

"When are you gonna do the laundry?" Ellie shrugged looking over you as you walked towards the bathroom. "I don't know, I kinda like it better this way." You flipped her off while walking towards the kitchen area of the small garage. "I'm making muffins." "In what?" "That little oven Joel got me for my birthday. And you don't get one cause you wouldn't leave me alone." Her arms snaked around your waist as you grabbed your favorite mixing bowl then the mix.

"Don't be mean." "Don't be annoying." She rocked you both back and forth as you continued mixing your muffins together, grabbing the tray from the shelf above. "You know, you could do some work." "Mm, like what?" "Oh, I don't know, turn the oven on?" "Why didn't you?" "Sorry I was too distracted by my child of a girlfriend." Ellie squeezed your hips while making her way over to the little oven that was big enough to fit one tray in at a time. Just a little tray though, she thought.

"They're just plain ones cause I don't feel like making those strawberry ones again." "Boring." You laughed slightly, pouring the mix into the cupcake papers Ellie had put in while you were still mixing. "I wouldn't talk about boring if I were you." "What is that supposed to mean?" You didn't say anything, picking up the tray and going over to the little oven, opening the door. "Y/n? I'm serious, what do you mean?" "I'm just saying.. you're a bit plain... like, y'know.." "Last night?" You didn't answer again, slipping the muffins in the oven, you shut the door and turned around, walking back to the bed.

But, before you could get there she spun you around, a grin on your face as you giggled. "This isn't funny, Y/n/n!" "You're just... y'know a little plain sometimes." "What does that mean?" She all but yelled, a little smile on her face when she listened to you giggle as you fell backwards onto the bed. "I don't know. You're just... a teeny, tiny bit boring. I still love you though." "Well, how do I not be boring?"

She fell above you, arms on either side of her head as she hovered above your body. "I don't know. Try different things. It's not my fault you're vanilla." Her eyes had slightly widened before they darkened your smile, never fading as you tilted your head slightly. "You just need... a little spice. Maybe... a bit rougher? I don't know.." "You drive me fucking insane, you know that?"

Your smile turned lustful, her little smirk fading a bit though your smile stayed, a little giggle leaving your lips. "What? I'm just being honest... my little muffin." Ellie's hand disappeared from beside your head and landed on your throat, it's semi-tight grip shocking you slightly but you didn't show it, still grinning up at her. "You know, you are infuriating Y/n." She mocked your own words, squeezing slightly before she leaned down slightly, your lips meeting.

She pulled away before you could enjoy the kiss, grabbing both your wrists with just one of her hands and holding them above your head. A change that surprised you, looking up at your tightly bound hands. Her lips met your neck, kissing down, sucking on that one spot that made a little gasp slip out, her other hand slipping up the shirt that belonged to her. Her cold finger tips meeting your warm skin, inching higher and higher.

"Ellie." You said breathily. "What do you want?" "Please." You barely whispered as her cold fingers met your nipple, a ping of pleasure rushing through your body. "What do you want Y/n?" "You. Please. Just touch me." She hummed slightly, her hand leaving your torso and instead trailing down to the waistband of your undergarment.

"Is this better, muffin?"

A/n: Spicy

[mochacoffee]

I created a 3D model and floor plan of Aziraphale’s bookshop in Good Omens!

I really wanted one for reference and it seemed like many others did too, so I put together my best approximation of where everything is. Beneath the color version, you’ll see I’ve included two simplified, labeled versions of the plan. The verbal labels are so you know what the object is. The numerical labels are there to make it easy to find more information about the object. I’ve put a numbered index below the cut that features the relevant reference images I used for each object and some more information about why I put it where I did/why it’s relevant/etc. I want to be very clear that I did not add anything to this from my own imagination; every single item and feature represents something I actually saw in the shop.

If you have any questions or want more information about this, PLEASE do not hesitate to ask! I put so much time into figuring it out and I would be more than happy to be a resource for anyone who needs it. Also, if you notice any errors, let me know and I’ll update the post. I hope this is helpful!

Update: Here’s a link to an interactive view of the shop! It takes a moment to load. You can click the “3D” tab in the top right to view it in first person and walk around inside. Double click a spot on the floor to move there and pan around by clicking and dragging. The oval symbol next to the person walking gives you a birds-eye view.

Update 2: Here’s a higher quality rendering of the first person perspective! Update 3: I made an alternate first person render here complete with a ceiling, light fixtures, and ambient lighting from outside. This one is optimized for making it seem more like you’re actually there, whereas the previous one is for maximum visibility. This render also has some minor accuracy improvements, which are detailed under the cut in the relevant sections. (The first interactive link with the birds-eye view updates automatically.) Update 4: In case you’re interested in Aziraphale’s books specifically, I’ve made a catalogue of those here.

1. Unknown closet

Images

There is a door behind Gabriel when he talks to Aziraphale in the backroom. So where does it lead? Well. The wall we can see behind Aziraphale when he encounters Shadwell in the shop (see #17: boxes/storage) doesn’t have a door in it. It’s also facing the wrong direction and it’s in the middle of the southwest wall ⁠— we know this because Aziraphale can see Shadwell in the entrance from there. So the wall behind him at that moment is definitely not the wall of the backroom. We’re left with this door and unaccounted-for corner. The only thing that makes sense to me then is that there’s a closet there between the two spaces. My personal theory is that this closet is “the back” that Aziraphale refers to keeping the Châteauneuf-du-Pape in since I didn’t see any other obvious alcohol storage space in the shop. Update: @n0nb1narydemon has suggested this could be a bathroom for guests or because culturally it’s a room you can use to extricate yourself from situations, which is another possibility! They also asked where I think the doors behind object #20 lead, and I thought it would be good to add here that they might lead to the shop next door or to this unknown room. It’s possible the room actually extends further into the next shop and encompasses the part of the wall where the doors are, but I didn’t have concrete evidence to support that idea so I didn’t include it in the floor plan. Update: I was wrong about the Châteauneuf-du-Pape! In the DVD bookshop tour we learn that the cabinet in the top left corner of the backroom is where Aziraphale keeps his alcohol, including that particular wine. I added a reference photo of Neil pointing it out. Thanks to @fuckyeahgoodomens​ for bringing the existence of this tour to my attention — ya girl got the special edition blu-ray even though I don’t have a blu-ray player yet so I hadn’t actually seen it. Also, there is a chair right next to this cabinet against the wall which I missed in my initial rendering of the shop but have since added.

2. Part of shop next door (top right)

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This was very tricky to figure out because you can see from the exterior of the shop that there is no wall past the back door, but from the interior there is clearly more space there. BUT in a behind the scenes photo of David during the fire scene, you can see on this back wall that there’s actually a nook with two large entryways, similar to the one that makes up the backroom. From the exterior you can see that the area next to the back door is taken up by the window of the next shop, so I concluded that this little square of space was not part of the bookshop’s interior, but the nook did extend further back than where the shop appears to end from the outside. I had to make one bookshelf more nubby than the others to make this work, but after a LOT of trial and error I decided one nubby bookshelf was the only thing that could explain the apparent architecture of the space. Any floor design that accounted for a bookshelf of the same length as the others just did not make sense on a fundamental level.

3. Part of shop next door (bottom left)

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From the exterior of the shop you can see that this window belongs to the adjacent store, as the wall is a different color. Within the bookshop you can also see when Gabriel and Sandalphon enter the backroom, there’s no window behind them; there’s a sink. So it’s definitely not Aziraphale’s window. The wall of the backroom is also further into the shop’s interior than the wall Aziraphale’s desk sits against, so there’s a corner of space inside that’s unaccounted for. At first I assumed it was plumbing from the sink that had been sealed off or something, but when I realized that’s where the window was on the outside, I figured the space is probably part of the next shop over.

4. Aziraphale’s desk

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This is where Aziraphale sits in the shop like 90% of the time. It’s on the Eastern side of the shop because Aziraphale was the guardian of the Eastern gate in Eden and because production designer Michael Ralph is a goddamn genius (source). Shout out to @posted-omens for this fascinating post analyzing the chariot sculpture on his desk. Update: Fun fact, the ladder behind his desk is actually called a library chair, supposedly designed by Benjamin Franklin. It functions as a ladder but you can also fold it into a chair! Neil mentions this in the DVD extra bookshop tour. I added screen caps of it to the reference photos above since I don’t have a specific section for the ladders!

5. Phone Aziraphale calls Crowley from

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I will be honest with you: I think there’s something a little fucked up about this corner. It is my nemesis. I tried so many things to make it work and I just could not get it exactly right, but what you see in the floor plan is my best guess as to what’s going on. The conundrum is that the spot where Aziraphale stands when he’s on the phone with Crowley is definitely closer to the fence around the staircase than it is in my layout. But the table he’s in front of is also clearly against the outside wall of the backroom, and the stairs being where I’ve put them here is the only thing that made sense based on the reference photos. So there’s some weird spacing issue where there’s a little too much room between the fence around the stairs and this phone. If I were to move the walls to close that gap then there would be way too much space in the backroom and way too little space on the southwest side of the shop, so I think the walls are correct as they are. So  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. What I can say for certain is that the phone is there and it’s on a table next to a lamp, and the table is definitely against the wall of the backroom and behind the staircase. The distance between these things doesn’t hold up perfectly, but their arrangement does. On another note, this is one of two phones in the shop. The other is on the table next to the cash register (see #9) which Aziraphale picks up when Crowley calls to say they need to talk about Armageddon. I believe this is the same one he uses to call Adam’s house in episode two, only he moves it from the table by the register to the top of a pile of books (which I’m pretty sure were stacked on the circular table between his desk and the sofa). Update: OKAY SO it turns out in the behind-the-scenes bookshop tour on the DVD we get two more teeny tiny glimpses of this corner! I added them to the reference photo album above. It appears I was right about the lamp, phone, and bookshelf being where they are, except that the bookshelf and table are touching. There’s also a ladder propped against the shelf. I’d say it’s possible there are actually two bookshelves here; based on the parallax in the DVD tour, the one next to the phone didn’t appear to be against the wall, but we know there is a bookshelf against that wall because we see it in the show. (P.S. There’s also another chair against that wall which I didn’t see because Aziraphale was standing in front of it, so I added that too.) This leads me to believe there’s one against the wall and another one further from it next to the table. But that’s just my speculation, so I won’t change the actual floor plan unless I find more evidence.

6. Where they’re drinking when Crowley realizes Adam has named the hellhound

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When Aziraphale sits down at this table, the background is of the same space he refers to as the “backroom” when Gabriel and Sandalphon show up. He’s across the table from Crowley, behind whom you can see a bookshelf, the staircase, and the coat rack. The table is half in the backroom half out, since the room has two large entryways in its wall. Update: I realized the wall behind this table actually dips back further! It is a weirdly-shaped wall! But in the DVD special tour of the bookshop Neil walks past it and there’s clearly an area that recesses even further, so I’ve modified that in the interactive floor plan :)

7. Bench of books that start the fire

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When Shadwell leaves the book shop and slams the door, one of the candles knocks over and rolls into a pile of books and other papers (including the Sound of Music lmao). You can see it’s the same bench the customer is standing in front of when he gives Gabriel a weird look after he yells about pornography. (I love this customer so much because they gave me a super HD shot of this particular area.) The poles of the fence around the bench, the staircase behind it, and the smaller shelves beside it holding Terry Pratchett’s books make it clear that the bench is in that spot in the shop and that it’s the place the fire starts.

8. Coat rack with Terry’s hat on it

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Aziraphale hangs his coat here right before Crowley calls him to say they need to talk about Armageddon. Out of focus in the frame you can see the lion sculpture that sits on the fence surrounding the stairs (see #11) and a bookshelf. The camera pans past the shelf and we see him walk past his desk to pick up the phone by the cash register, which puts that shelf right next to his sitting area. We can also see the coat rack in the background when Crowley realizes Adam has named the hellhound. The coat rack has Terry Pratchett’s hat and scarf on it in his honor (source).

9. Antique cash register

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You can see this register in the background when Crowley is on the couch and when Aziraphale invites Gabriel and Sandalphon into the backroom. I know it’s an antique cash register because it’s photographed and referenced directly on page 79 of the Good Omens TV Companion. It’s a typewriter in my floor plan because the website I used (floorplanner.com), who knows why, did not have a 3D model of a cash register from the early 1900s.

10. Back door

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Thank you so much to @fuckyeahgoodomens for this post where they figured all this out!! Wonderful work! You can see this door from the exterior of the shop and its existence is referenced in the Good Omens script book on page 94. It’s also in the background of a behind the scenes shot of Aziraphale pulling away the carpet so he can contact heaven. Behind him in that shot you can see the bust (which moves around a lot - see #19) and a grandfather clock, and in the show from one of the aerial shots you can see that the carpet is pulled west, further confirming the door’s location.

11. Fence around the stairs

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I have concluded that this is a fence to keep customers from going up to the second floor. It looks to be made of golden pillars with wooden shelving atop them. The fence crosses beneath the staircase on one side and the other side ends about where the stair’s railing does. You can see this fence behind Crowley when he realizes Adam has named the hellhound, behind Aziraphale when he calls Crowley to tell him he knows where the antichrist is, and next to the customer who gives Gabriel a look after he yells “PORNOGRAPHY!” It’s also visible in one of the aerial shots of the shop. Update: In the DVD extra bookshop tour I noticed the lion sculpture on this fence is not just a lion, but a lion with a woman holding its mane. I think it might also be a lamp? In one of the reference photos, the one that looks down from the second floor, it appears there’s a light in the woman’s other hand. I’d be interested to see if we can track down what this particular sculpture is and what it might mean. Update: @cantdewwrite has suggested here that the light/sculpture could be a replica of one of the bronze statues in the Victoria Memorial, which does look quite similar. I’m fairly certain Aziraphale’s sculpture is of a woman, which would make it the figure in the memorial representing peace.

12. Open book of illustrated story of Adam and Eve

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Shout out to @amuseoffyre for this post where she figured out what this was! Update: I’ve determined that this book is The Gospel in the Old Testament: A series of pictures by Harold Copping. The painting is, naturally, by Harold Copping. It’s called “Adam and Eve after the fall.” Unfortunately this book is out of print and I haven’t been able to track down an ebook or scan of it, so I can’t confirm the text just yet. But based on its premise, I think it’s safe to assume that it’s telling the story of Adam and Eve directly. Aziraphale has a second copy of this book visible on the shelf next to the sofa.

13. Antique computer

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This is the computer Aziraphale does his extremely scrupulous taxes with, as confirmed in this ask that @neil-gaiman answered from @prismatic-bell! It’s an Amstrad, according to the bookshop tour in the DVD extras.

14. Spiral staircase

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These stairs are in many shots of the shop so it was pretty obvious where they were.

15. Sink, teapots, etc.

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You can see this wall right before Gabriel walks into the backroom and behind Aziraphale when he’s drinking with Crowley at the end of episode one. It appears he has two hand towels, a ceramic angel soap dish (aw), some teapots, and a decorated box above it, among other things. On the floor beside the sink is what I believe to be a broom handle, though it could be a mop? Next to that is a bronze statue of an angel atop a small table piled with books. On the other side of the sink is an open book on a stand ⁠— it has a fabric bookmark in it with a crucifix at the end, so I’m assuming it’s a bible. Light reading while you make your tea I guess. Update: Thank you so much to @brightwanderer for pointing out in this post that he has four extra angel wing mugs above the sink as well! I couldn’t figure out what they were! Update: Neil said in this ask that you can see an oven by the sink when Gabriel and Sandalphon walk in. Which you can! It’s real small and there’s a little pot on top of it. I’ve added a screencap of it to the images album for this area. Update: I’m donating my heart and soul to @ack-emma for suggesting in the replies to this ask that the central object above the sink is a samovar!! I had never heard of this so I had absolutely no idea what it was, but I think they hit the nail on the head. Y’all Aziraphale really likes tea.

16. Sculpture

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Thank you @ineffable-endearments, @behold-my-squeees, @srebrnafh, @aethelflaedladyofmercia for contributing to this post about the statue and its potential symbolism! Update: @doctorscienceknowsfandom has added some analysis to the post above suggesting that this is a sculpture of Paris, the figure from Greek mythology. I’m inclined to agree! Update: BINGO! @tifaria​ has found Aziraphale’s exact statue (confirmed Paris!) in this post. Brilliant work!! This community continues to blow me away. Further discussion about the sculpture’s meaning in the context of the show here — be sure to check the notes for further commentary.

17. Boxes/storage

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These boxes and piles of books can be seen behind Aziraphale when he encounters Shadwell in the shop and behind Crowley while he’s rambling drunkenly about why they should stop Armageddon in episode one. They’re in a nook that goes further back than where the shop appears to end from its exterior (see #2 for more info on that!). 

18. Stacks of books

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You can see this stack in one of the aerial shots of Shadwell in the shop. I didn’t include most stacks of books in the floor plan because they’re literally everywhere and I had to manually set how high each book would be from the floor, so putting them in piles got tedious very quickly. But I did include a few notable ones, and this is one of those imo because there’s not much else in that area as far as I can tell.

19. Bust

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This little guy moves around quite a bit, unlike most things in the shop. In some photos/scenes it’s where I put it on the floor plan, but in others it’s closer to the northwestern wall and in this 360 video of the shop it’s right between two of the columns. I chose to put it where I did because it’s there in the scene where Crowley is drunkenly rambling about Armageddon, whereas the other locations I’ve seen it in were from behind the scenes shots and stuff. I’m not sure who the bust is of! It appears to have a little ribbon with a medal around its next though. Update: More speculation about the bust here, courtesy of @aethelflaedladyofmercia! Update: @fuckyeahgoodomens has confirmed in this post that the thing around the bust’s neck is the medal given to Aziraphale by Gabriel in this deleted scene!

20. Divider I think?

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Please for the love of god if you know what this thing is, tell me. My best guess is it’s a room divider because what else looks like that?? But I don’t know why you would put a room divider there. And it still doesn’t look exactly like a divider either. But the decorative element at the top and apparent gap between the metal frame and the red bit leads me to believe it’s not furniture or a box. This mystery object is my second nemesis after the weird corner (#5). Update: @brightwanderer has suggested that it might be an embroidered/tapestry draft screen, which I think makes more sense! Update: In the DVD extra bookshop tour I found a very brief image of this item over Neil’s shoulder which I added to the reference photos above. I think by some miracle I was right and it is a divider. It could be a draft screen but at the very least it is shaped like a divider with at least three sections. Wahoo!

21. Record player

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This is the phonograph that’s playing Franz Schubert’s String Quintet in C major (thank you again to @fuckyeahgoodomens for that info) when we first see Aziraphale in the shop. It also plays Queen’s You’re My Best Friend when Crowley runs into the fire.

22. Terry Pratchett’s books

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Another one of the many little Terry easter eggs in the show is this set of his books! @devoursjohnlock made a post highlighting some other specific books you can find in the shop.

23. Chess set

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I saw a post once pointing out this chess set and the implication that Aziraphale and Crowley must play together sometimes, which I thought was a really nice detail to put into the set. But I can’t find the post to credit it! I will update this with a link if I do. Update: Pretty sure this is the post I saw. Thank you to @losyanya for mentioning it :)

24. Circular entryway

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This is one of many circle motifs that production designer Michael Ralph incorporated into the shop. It’s gorgeous. I think there’s actually more room between the archway and the door than I’ve included in this floor plan; Shadwell takes a few steps through it when he runs out of the shop. But I think the fix is just the door being further out from the entryway rather than the entryway being further in. I didn’t want to fuck with the walls to improve this particular area because when I realized the spacing was wrong, I was almost done and would’ve had to manually move each object in the shop over a few inches over. Made more sense to leave the caveat in a footnote. Update: In the DVD extra bookshop tour you get a brief glimpse of something on the inside wall of the entryway. I think it’s a wall sconce or something along those lines. There’s one on either side. I added them to the reference album above! I also figured out how to extend the walls to accommodate some more space there without having to move everything else, so I did that. Update: Here’s a link to some meta discussion about the cupid sculpture in front of this entryway!

25. Sofa Crowley sits on when he suggests they could be godfathers

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You can see that the sofa is next to Aziraphale’s desk and the cash register, and also that there’s a bookshelf behind it. From the entrance to the shop you can see two bookshelves on either side of the central circle, so it was pretty clear that the couch was on the other side of one of those shelves.

26. Wall crucifix

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I find it very interesting that Aziraphale has this considering Jesus isn’t a big part of angelic lore or heaven’s general priorities in the show. It would make more sense to me that he has it because it’s another memento of his time with Crowley, sort of like the illustrated story of Adam and Eve by his desk (#12). Also, fun fact, the opposite side of this wall segment is where he put up all his maps and notes about the whereabouts of the Antichrist in episode three.

[taeguboi]

“Would You Rather...?” Drabble 02 - Reader x Yoongi [Suga]

“would you rather: be trapped in a lift with jungkook for an hour after an argument but you make up, seven minutes in heaven with rm where you have a crush on him, or be housemates with suga through quarantine and you can't stop feeling super attracted to him”

Yes, I chose the Yoongi option again because I think I have a problem lmao rip

Send me BTS “Would You Rather…?” questions in my ask box for a drabble

*********

Locked Down in Tension

Frustration. Uncertainty. Tension.

Studying of your own accord since lockdown began was starting to feel impossible. It had taken you about a week to decide where to begin with any of the remaining work on your to do list and your focus was coming in very short and sporadic bursts. Five minutes here, half a minute there… if you were lucky, you got half an hour to yourself without getting distracted by any of your housemates as they walk in and out your room or past the dining table in the kitchen.

Nothing appeared to be clear to you anymore from your studies to your social life to just everything in general. This entire situation of the country being on lockdown just messed with any existing routine you once had. It messed with your mind. He messes with your mind.

Yoongi fucking Min. He doesn’t even mean to do it; he doesn’t even know he’s doing it! All he thinks it is everyday is a glance across the room or a ‘y’alright?’ when one of you passes the other outside the shower room. Did he always look that good in the morning with his bed head? Did that dressing gown always reveal that bit of collarbone or did you only just notice? Has he always had that strong aura whenever he walks into a room or is it the isolation making you delirious?

Come on, he’s just loading in the shopping. He’s allowed to do that. He’s allowed to get on with that whilst you type away at your laptop. Or rather, you aren’t typing at your laptop, just staring at the screen with unfocused eyes while your hand barely hover above the keys. You’ve no idea how long you’ve been sitting so still like that upon your realization but you can’t help but swear in frustration at your idleness.

“For fuck’s sake…” you sigh, leaning back on your chair, throwing your head back.

“Y’alright y/n?”

‘No I’m not fucking alright; I can’t work; I can’t sleep properly; and you don’t exactly help when you come in here looking like that...’

“Yeah, I’m fine” you lie, suddenly correcting your posture by sitting up in your chair and your chin up.

“Alright then” he replies with a shrug and simply goes back to what it was he was doing; unloading the milk from the shopping bag and sliding it onto a fridge shelf.

“Well, actually no…” you admit, your mind working slower than your mouth as you rest an elbow on the table and place your head on your palm.

“You’re always sat at that screen ever since this situation happened. Take a day off” he suggests, only half bothered, you can tell by the monotone in his voice.

“Yeah right(!)” you retorted sharply. “No one knows when this will all be over and I refuse to fall behind” you explain folding your arms.

“Relax y/n; it’s going to be at least a few more weeks. Watch a film or something” he advises, slamming the fridge door shut.

“I don’t know…” you drawl out, uncertain of what to do.

You hate that he’s right. Maybe you should have a day of no computer screens. Why does he have to be right?

“Suit yourself” he deadpans. “I’m chucking this in the player anyway ‘cos there’s nothing else to do” he tells you, holding some DVD case as he once again shrugs and then proceeds to saunter on into the living area.

Refusing to appear weak in front of Yoongi - even though he doesn’t know what you know which is what goes through your mind about him sometimes and that’s just paranoia at its finest - you remain sat in that dining room chair, determined to at least get a couple of more paragraphs going on this essay you had started at the university.

His stupid head just has to be in your view just beyond the laptop screen as you try your damned hardest to be productive. You can see his blond hair peeping out above the back of the sofa and it looks lonely to you. Lonely, like somebody should go join him in watching his stupid film.

The intro music for the film begins and if you weren’t already feeling distracted by things that shouldn't be making you feel distracted, this is the giving up point for the day.

“Ah fuck it” you casually say in your decision, shutting the laptop down before abandoning it and walking over to the sofa left of the one Yoongi is sat on.

“What? Do I have cooties or something?” he questions, apparently offended at your choice of seat.

“Oh, I-I just thought that…” you stammer, unable to complete your sentence.

“I know there’s all this stuff about social distancing y/n but we are in the same household” he bluntly says as he stares at the TV but also patting the space next to him. “Sit with me” he says, eyes not leaving the TV screen.

The audacity. The way he says it like a demand and not a question. He still doesn’t realize he’s doing it. You’re feeling stubborn now because of the way in which he told but didn’t ask you.

After a solid 5 seconds passing since he spoke, he notices you didn’t move sofas.

“I don’t bite, you know” he deadpans.

It makes your blood boil even though he still isn’t meaning to evoke any sort of reaction of frustration. You can’t help yourself though. As much as you’ve tried your hardest to put off these random thoughts you’ve been getting about your housemate every now and then, the idea of sitting next to Yoongi does sound kind of nice.

You often feel embarrassed to look at Yoongi because of the way your mind sometimes drifts into daydream as you watch him make a cup of coffee and think about going up to him and hugging him from behind to bask in the warmth of his dressing gown or when you watch him lift something heavy and you imagine it’s him lifting you to push you up against the wall as you make out intensely without a care that any one of your other housemates could walk in at any time or....

“Y/n?”

“Yoongi?”

“You sitting with me then or what?”

Without a sound, you stand yourself up and gently sit yourself next to your housemate and to be fair, this isn’t so bad. The film’s fine, and you feel nowhere near as tense as you thought you were going to from being sat so close to him.

“I’m getting a drink - want one?” he asks, interrupting some not so key part of the film dialogue and getting up.

“Sure” you reply, feeling like you could use something alcoholic after days on end of going nowhere with your uni work.

“Beer good?” he asks from the kitchen and you hear the fridge door slam followed by the sound of two glasses being plonked on the kitchen counter.

“Always” you respond, your eyes fixated on the screen in a similar way to which his were earlier.

Your answer is followed with the sound of a fizz and a jingle from a bottle lid, followed by another.

“Here we go” he says, placing the bottles on the table. “Sorry, it’s all we had left” he apologises as he notices you reading the label of the bottle.

“S’alright” you reply. “It makes me laugh actually that people don’t want to drink it anymore just because of the name”

“Yeah… it is a bit daft, really” he agrees, seating himself next to you. Is he closer to you than he was before? You aren’t quite sure.

“S’pose I’m just glad really to even see some booze” you sigh with a hint of jest. You casually lean over to pick up the bottle and you take the first swig.

Seriously, you swear there was more space between you than there was before.

‘Just focus on the film y/n. Enjoy your beer.’

So that’s exactly what you do.

For about half a minute.

Godammit, you have to know whether he’s sitting closer on purpose. Or rather, you need to just confirm to yourself that it’s your mind playing tricks on you because this is of course just an accident.

You get up to go to the toilet in the shower room down the corridor and Yoongi doesn’t question it. Maybe if you have a reason to get up and sit down again - at about the same distance as before - you will be able to just see that there was absolutely no intention on his part and it will have been just you and your mind running wild again… 

‘Wow if that’s what you’re classing as wild now y/n, you need to get out more…’

Observing your appearance in the mirror above the sink after you wash your hands, you find yourself subconsciously fixing your hair a little as though to make yourself look presentable, just pushing that little strand to the side out the way of your face and flattening a tufty bit at the top of your messy bun.

Coming back into the living area, you swipe at the bottle that is yours and plonk yourself on the sofa once again, leaning back to continue watching the film. 

To be honest, you aren’t really engaging with the film at that point; you’re just enjoying the relaxation and the sense of relief that bottle of alcohol offers you. Maybe you have been trying too hard lately. Maybe it’s okay to not do anything too productive every so often. Maybe you’ll have another beer after this one.

“Aw man, I’m such a sucker at these parts” Yoongi abruptly tells you, leaning forward as if a little giddy at the sight of two to be lovers interacting in this scene.

“Really? You? Yoongi Min? You go for this soppy crap?” you ask, almost in a dismissing way.

“Sure I do… okay maybe not usually as much as I do now, but… oh look!” he points at the screen with an excited expression as the couple on screen almost kiss.

You can’t believe what you’re hearing. You always had Yoongi down as this indifferent kind of guy, cool, outgoing… and then the two actors on screen get interrupted by a third character

“Awh damn! I so thought they were going to do it that time!” he exclaims. 

Your baffled mind-set at the way your housemate is acting in no way prepares you for the contact of his hand to your knee as he squeezes it. Yet somehow, you don’t outwardly react to it at all. Not one bit. Not even a twitch or a jerk of the knee. You let it happen. It’s kind of sweet really. Yeah, maybe it’s the weird circumstances of this lockdown that has changed people in weird little ways but you can’t help but muse at this side of Yoongi.

The scene on the film ends and moves onto the next but that doesn’t prompt Yoongi to remove his hand from your knee. Instead, he calms down and he just… lingers there. Does he appear to show any intention of moving his hand? Apparently not.

This should be weird. This should feel weird. It doesn’t though.

His thumb goes back and forth gently a couple of times, rubbing on your knee. You might have just stopped breathing. It feels nice. It’s nothing though really. He probably doesn’t realize he’s doing it as his eyes haven’t left that TV again.

This goes on for about another 15 minutes. Well not the rubbing, but his hand stays right there, possibly it’s moved up a little by now, but you conclude it’s another accident similar to when he sat closer to you earlier.

But then something happens that makes you question everything. Suddenly you doubt your judgement that he didn’t sit closer by accident. Your mind spirals further back than that even but you stop yourself from going barmy with thoughts of uncertainty and think about getting another one of those beers. To do that though, you’re going to have to take his hand off your knee.

You reach for his wrist to move him off but just as you take hold of that wrist, you find yourself unable to let go. Your touch has caused him to look at you and he catches your gaze. Neither of you seem to be able to give up in what has turned into an intense staring competition.

No matter how much will power you try to muster, you can’t turn away. 

What do you do next?

Oooh deep and mysterious cliff hanger I know... well actually tbh I guess I got carried away since I said I’ll respond with drabbles and the word count was already over 2k when I got to this point soooo

and the answer is yes, this is open to a part 2. I might continue from this part if anyone asks. I might continue it anyway and give a part 2 nobody asked for hahah

[steviemae]

curvy // sp - pt.2

part two of this imagine, but also requested by anonymous: I loved you SP imagine❤️ and I would like to request a sweet pea smut (if your okay with that) but in his POV where the reader in self conscious and he doesn’t understand why? Thanks💞

warning: smut. smut. smut. smut. and more smut. 

The movie had ended and you were taking the disc out of the dvd player to put back in its case and on the shelf.

“You ready for Chamber of Secrets?” you asked, your back facing Sweet Pea. You received no reply so you turned around to see if he was even paying attention to you, only to jump back in surprise when you found Sweet Pea standing right behind you.

“You scared me, you ass.” you said clutching your chest.

“Sorry, but i have something else in mind.” His voice was low and gruff and you stood shocked as his hands gripped your waist, running up under your cropped hoodie before going back down to your hips. His head buried itself in the crook of your neck, leaving chaste kisses leading up to your jaw before ghosting over your cheek and finally brushing against your own.

“Are you only doing this so you don’t have to watch Harry Potter? Because if that’s the case you can just leave.” you said feeling  yourself getting kind of angry pushing against his chest making him take a step back.

“No, i wouldn’t have suggested a marathon if i wasn’t fully intrigued to watch them with you. But i’m also intrigued as to why you hide behind baggy clothes when your body looks like that.” he said.

“That’s exactly why i wear baggy clothes. Because my body looks like this.” you said as if it were the most obvious thing and motioning towards your body.

Sweet pea’s pov.

“You’re joking right?” i said, my eyes widening as she crossed her arms over her stomach to stop my eyes from scanning over her body for the hundredth time today.

“No, i’m not joking, Sweet Pea.” she mumbled not meeting my eyes, but looking down at the carpet as her foot ran across it, back and forth. I took the opportunity to walk up to her and grab her wrists, gently prying them away from her stomach. I bent down so i was kneeling in front of her, letting go of her wrists and placing my hands on her hips, moving the hem of her hoodie out of the way so i could leave kisses across her stomach.

“There’s nothing you should be insecure about, you’re beautiful and i can honestly say that this outfit is driving me insane.” i mumbled against her skin. My fingers dipped into the waistband of her spandex shorts, pulling them down a little to expose her hip where i left  my mark before kissing a line across to her other hip. I heard her let out a sigh above me, her fingers burying themselves in my hair. A smile pulled at my lips as i continued to leave kisses across her stomach before i stood back up. Her hands were still in my hair, only this time at the base of my neck while mine stayed on her hips, tugging her closer to me.

“So are you gonna let me worship that body or not?” i whispered in her ear nipping at her lobe gently. She said nothing, but tugged my face to hers and kissed me with so much need. I didn’t hesitate to pick her up, letting her wrap her legs around my waist.

“Bedroom or couch, love?” i asked pulling away from the kiss for a brief second.

“Couch. The bedroom is too far.” she mumbled slapping her lips against mine again. I laid her on her back on the couch crawling between her legs, my hands roaming her body. After making out for a bit i pulled away tugging the hem of her hoodie up so she’d take it off. She gave me a hesitant look before slowly taking it off and tossing it to the ground. Her arms immediately moving to cover her stomach making my eyebrows knit together.

“Don’t do that. Don’t hide from me, there’s no need. You’re gorgeous.” i mumbled, grabbing her wrists again to move her arms up, pinning them over her head with one hand while i used the other to drag my fingertips from her neck, down her chest, over her stomach and stopping when they hit the waistband of her shorts. I leaned down to kiss her again, letting my fingers slip underneath her shorts and underwear, teasing her folds making her gasp into my mouth. I slipped my tongue into her mouth allowing it to dance with hers as i rubbed small gentle circles over her clit making her hips buck and small sighs to leave her mouth.

Much to her dismay, i pulled my hand out of her pants and pulled away from the kiss, letting go of her hands i still had pinned above her head. I brought my hands to her shorts, pulling them down along with her underwear before i kneeled on the floor by the couch, moving her body so that my face was directly in front of her heat. I kissed both of her thighs letting my hands roam the skin of her outer thigh and hip. Her arms moved to cover her stomach yet again but i stopped them, “if you cover yourself, i’ll stop. Either keep them above your head or your hands gripping the couch or my hair. Understood?” i dropped my voice down low so she knew i wasn’t joking. Her eyes widened but nodded. I let go of her wrists going back to kissing up her thigh, feeling her fingers tangle in my hair. I flattened my tongue against her core, licking from her entrance to her clit making her squirm above me. When i reached her clit, i flicked my tongue against it over and over making her moan and her fingers to grip my hair tighter. I let out my own groan as she continued to pull my hair, it turned my on that i was making her feel this way and of course, boosted my ego a bit as well.

“Sweet Pea, i-” Her body was writhing on the couch as my tongue continued to flick over her sensitive area. My eyes never left her face as she came against my mouth, her chest heaving as she breathed heavily, nails scratching at my scalp because of how tight she gripped my hair. Mouth open as moans slipped past her lips and eyes screwed shut. I pulled away with one final kiss to her clit, kissing my way up her body, leaving marks up her stomach and across her breast. Whenever she’d look herself in the mirror she’d see those marks and remember how i cherished every inch of her body. Maybe she would stop feeling so insecure. She cupped my face in her hands, kissing my lips. I took one of her hands away from my face, pulling it down and placed it over the bulge in my jeans.

“Feel that?” i whispered in her ear, “that’s all because of you. There’s nothing you should feel insecure about, you’re fucking hot. Your body is amazing. God, i’ve never wanted someone so bad in my life.” I groaned when she squeezed me gently making my hips buck into her hand.

“Take them off, Pea.” She whispered licking over my Serpent tattoo before biting down, surly leaving a mark there. I pulled away in a rush, tugging my shirt over my head and practically ripping my jeans and underwear down my legs before climbing back in between her legs.

“You’re on the pill, right?” i asked rubbing the tip of my cock over her, spreading her juices. She nodded, “yeah, but still pull out.” she gasped feeling me put the tip into her entrance. She cupped my face, pulling me in for a kiss as i slowly pushed all the way into her. I decided i was going to take this slow, not rush anything. Making sure she felt every inch of me and i felt every inch of her, drawing out both of our orgasms so we’d last a little longer.

“Pea, faster please.” she begged making me shake my head.

“Sorry, love. But i’m taking my time with you.” i said kissing her neck and collarbone. Her quiet moans and sighs of pleasure filled the room only adding to my pleasure. I decided to pick up the pace a little bit but not too much, only sliding in and out of her the tiniest bit faster. Her nails scratched into my shoulder blades making me hiss and let out a long groan into her neck.

“God, y/n. Fuck you feel amazing.” i panted. I pulled out and slammed into her making a loud moan leave her lips. She quickly placed her hand over her mouth to stop another from slipping out, but i grabbed her hands and pinned them back above her head like i did before, “what did i say about hiding from me?” i slowed down my thrusts to tease her making her whine.

“That means those glorious moans of yours too. I want to hear you.” she nodded pleading for me to go faster. I kept her hands pinned above her head with one hand and let the other slip between us to rub her clit making her back arch off the couch and her chest to press flush against mine.

“Pea, yes. I’m gonna-” she moaned biting into my shoulder.

“Cum for me, baby. You can do it.” i coaxed into her ear sucking on the spot right behind her ear that i knew drove her wild. Her moans grew louder and i could feel her walls clench around me. She moaned my name louder as her climax ran through her body her wrists straining against my hand. The feeling of her walls pulsing around me was enough to bring me to my own orgasm. I pulled out jerking myself, spilling all over her stomach moaning her name in the process. I watched as my cum dripped down over her heat, mixing with her own juices making me moan one more time before i let go of her wrists, standing up to grab a towel out of the downstairs bathroom and wetting it a bit before going back to clean her up. She hissed as the towel brushed over her sensitive clit her hips bucking up and legs clamping shut, “just let me clean you up, baby.” i mumbled giving the top of her thigh a kiss. Once she was all cleaned i tossed her my shirt and slipped my boxers back on before taking the towel to throw into the dirty clothes hamper in her laundry room.

Making my way back to the living room i picked her up off the couch bridal style before sitting myself down, back leaning against the arm rest, placing her between my legs allowing her head to rest on my chest.

“Thank you.” she whispered.

“For what?” i asked kissing the top of her head. She lifted her head up to look at me.

“For making me feel less insecure even if it was just for a moment.” she said. I shook my head, “you shouldn’t feel insecure, ever. You’re beautiful. I’m not saying you should go around showing off your body if you’re not comfortable with that, but i am saying that you never have to hide your curves from me. Ever.” a small smile spread across her lips and she leaned up a little to place a quick kiss on my lips.

your pov.

Sweet Pea stayed over all weekend, taking the opportunity to worship your body the whole time and you weren’t complaining. He left sunday night to go back to his trailer before your parents came back from their cruise. When you woke up monday morning you were feeling confident and wanted to show off everything you had going on so you grabbed a pair of form fitting high waisted jeans that were slightly distressed putting them on and checking your butt out in the mirror, giving yourself a nod of approval you took off the hoodie you wore to bed that night, putting on a lace bralette and pulling the shirt Sweet Pea left over the weekend over your head. You gathered it at the front and tied it in a knot so that your stomach was showing slightly. You walked downstairs after gathering everything you needed for school in your backpack catching your mom’s attention when you walked into the kitchen.

“You look amazing, y/n. What happened to the sweater and boyfriend jeans?” she asked.

“Someone made me realize that i had nothing to be insecure about. That my body is perfect the way it is and today i felt confident. Do you not like it?” you asked your smile dropping.

“No, no sweetie i love it. Don’t change. You look amazing and i’m sure whoever it was that helped give you a confidence boost will love it to.” she said giving your forehead a kiss.

You walked through the hallways with your head held high everyone doing a double take to make sure it was actually you. All of your friends jaws dropped, except Sweet Pea who had a smirk plastered on his face, as you walked into the lounge.

“Hey, guys.” you greeted smiling happily at them.

“Who knew that you were hiding such a killer body under those baggy clothes, y/n.” Reggie said walking over to you and placing his hand on your hip only to be dragged back by the collar of his letterman jacket, “back off mutt, she’s mine.” Sweet Pea walked up to you giving you a kiss on the lips telling you how fucking hot you looked in his shirt and that he couldn’t wait until the two of you got to his trailer after school so he could rip it off of you.

[entro-writes]

Every Road Home: Chapter 2 Flash Gordon.

A Prime All Might x Reader Fic

A week had passed since you had picked up your DVD of the original Batman movie. You sit huddled again on your couch, watching Adam West fluster around in his underwear-clad superhero suit, a comically large, paper mâché bomb held high above his head. He dodges nuns, a baby carriage, a marching band Then turns tail towards the sea, a flock of (clearly not wooden) ducks bob below. He looks around, exasperated.

“Some days you just can’t get rid of a bomb!” you say together with Mr. West. You smile.

You glance over to the lone DVD placed neatly on your shelf. Flash Gordon. You had reasoned that when you had first left the second-hand DVD shop that you had accidentally grabbed his DVD instead of your own. He must have totally forgotten to trade it with you when he brought you yours.

Several times you thought about bringing his DVD back to him, but you hadn’t seen him since. You had tucked yourself away, back to the comfort and safety of your apartment as if nothing had happened.

But still, the gentle yet strong laughter of his flitted through your thoughts. Maybe if you went back to the DVD store and left it there for him…no…you couldn’t bear seeing that cashier again. What if you waited on the spot where you had met—ridiculous as if he’d come back to that spot for no reason. You snort at your own train of thought, maybe a “Lost and Found” poster reading, “Found. One of the most gaudy, over-acted movies ever made (otherwise known as Flash Gordon), seeking ridiculously tall blonde to pick it up.”

Your phone buzzes.

You pick up the glowing screen and see it’s a text from your younger sister, Louise.

Not long ago, your sister had gone to New York, working there as a design artist for a new small-scale company that was making suits for heroes. Pride blossomed in your chest at the memory, she was incredibly talented and was definitely going places in life. You unlock your phone and read the message:

L: Hey you. What are you up to? 😊

You type back.

Saving the world, as usual. Just kidding. Still here. What about you?

In the blink of an eye she responds.

L: We have a new client! She’s so cool, her quirk gives her cat-like abilities and features, so I gotta work around those, designing this one will be SOOO much fun!!!! :0

Another few seconds.

L: …you know, I miss you a lot. I worry about you too. ☹

You bite your lip.

L: I know you’ve been going through a lot, the anxiety, depression, and stuff but…you need to get out of there. Go places. Meet people.

You type back.

Yeah. I wish I could. But I can’t.

Tears well up in your eyes. You feel so pitiful the way you are now. You put your phone down, ready to fall back into another pit of depression when it buzzes again.

L: I’ve got it! Why don’t you come and live with me here in New York?!

Your eyes widen.

What?! Really?!

L: No ur too much of a nerd LOL. Yeah of course you dummy! Just think of it!! The two of us, sharing a flat, taking on the big apple. We party! We geek out! Maybe you get out to the streets and meet a handsome stranger? ;)

You roll your eyes but a smile paints your face. Your heart thrums with excitement, But…

Then the usual feeling of intense dread takes over. New York is a massive city. With lots of noise and smell and worst of all…People. Even with your sister at your side you would be terrified, and you knew that all too well. Too many eyes watching you, too many heartbeats in one place.

Too many unsaid thoughts for you to accidentally pick up.

You shiver, the corners of your mind returning to that sickeningly familiar static. You try to breathe. Your thumb hovers over the keypad of your phone.

I can’t do it, it’s too much. It’s not like can afford it anyway.

You put down your phone. The screen glows again but you don’t read your sister’s reply. You curl yourself up into a ball on your couch. Coward. Stupid. Worthless. Pathetic. You feel your insides get tense, you clench your teeth. You taste salt on your lips as your eyes drip. You lay there and let yourself cry in silence for a long time.

You take a deep breath and wipe your damp face with your shirt.

You need…something.

You will yourself hard enough that you stand up. You grab a clean pair of socks, your shoes, your purse. You head towards your front door when you stop. You turn to look at the shelf and the lonely DVD sitting there. The memory of reassuring laughter fills your mind. You shove the DVD in your purse and walk outside.

The day is sweltering, once again but you know you have to be outside to tame your feelings. You don’t know where you are going so you wander around, past the neighborhood park with its scalding metal slide and rusty swings. All empty. You stop at the drinking fountain for a sip of room temperature water before wiping your face with your sleeve and moving on. You walk through a small cul-de-sac. The lawns vacant of all life except for a lawn gnome or two. A dog barks. Flies buzz around the trashcans set out for pick up. You walk. You’re already parched again. Your tongue sticks to the roof of your mouth. A cold soda sounds pretty good. There’s a gas station across the road.

You look both ways and step off to cross the street when everything seems to move both faster than the eye and slow motion at once.

The screeching of tires. The stench of burned rubber. The crunching of a bumper plate.

You cover your head with your hands, unable to put together a final thought when…

It stops.

You look up, confused when you see a long blue cape flutter around you. An impossibly tall man—no—hero stands between you and the vehicle that had nearly made you roadkill. His hands made massive dents in the front of the red convertible…he had stopped it with his bare hands and stood like it was nothing at all. He glances down at you with a familiar smile.

“Are you quite alright?”

You nod wordlessly.

He drops the car with a heavy clang, the two occupants shrieking in surprise.

“I think you’ve had quite enough of the joyride, you two. First my best friend’s car and now you nearly crushed this young lady. Turn yourselves in peacefully and no one will get hurt.”

The woman at the wheel has rat-like features, long teeth and whiskers, only made less attractive as she spits at the pavement before grabbing the man next to her, hopping out of the car and running for it.

The hero turns to pursue the two of them when the man lifted what looked like a remote detonator with his hand. The hero skids to a stop, instantly putting together the situation before leaping back towards you.

“GET DOWN.”

No sooner had he reached you then the car exploded, rattling the earth beneath your feet and shocking your eardrums. You carefully opened your eyes, finding that the hero had grasped you and tumbled you both over to the sidewalk. He has you cradled in his muscular arms, you feel his chest rise and fall once. He carefully unwraps you from his cape before dusting the debris from his shoulders and his V shaped bangs.

“Today isn’t turning out how you planned, I can imagine.” He says with a laugh.

Everything clicks.

He’s the same man you ran into that day at the DVD store.

You swallow hard and reach for your purse “I, uh—”

“Sorry, miss, but those two criminals are not far and I have to put a stop to this madness. We can talk later.” He turns and looks around, searching the area.

Your mouth opens and shuts like a fish.

The only building nearby is the gas station. He rushes in and you hear a loud clattering and a woman’s shout. You can’t help but get closer. You peer inside and see the fluorescent lights flicker. The hero stands silent. Listening. The floor erupts beneath him and he flips out of the way. Out from the earth comes the rat-faced woman, she had used her claws to dig underground. She swipes at his face, he dodges, yet his cheek gets sliced in the process. He sweeps his leg under her, knocking her off balance and she falls. He takes the opportunity and pounces on top of her, pinning her arms behind her back. In the flickering lights you see him pull out a pair of handcuffs.

The two of them walk out the still working sliding door of the gas station. The woman grimaces at you, her lip swollen and split from her fall.

The hero stares her down, an intensity to his ever-present smile. “I will find your accomplice, Ms. Johnson, either now or later. Tell me where he is and it’ll be better for the both of you.”

Suddenly static crackled in your head once again, causing your head to throb. You looked around. It was neither the woman nor the hero.

A piece of cloth came down from an air vent behind the two of them.

“—Bastard”

“BEHIND YOU!” you shout.

He hero spun around in a split second, his hand grasping the cloth in his hand as it wriggles with a life of its own. He tugs and the air vent brakes with a sharp twang, a pile of what looked like bandages fell to the ground.

“There you are, Mr. Threadborne.” The hero says as he pulls him closer with a jerk.

The pile of bandages comes to life and wraps itself together in the shape of a man. He snarls at the hero before offering his hands in defeat. The hero puts him in another pair of cuffs, one, you noticed, has a different design than the woman’s.

“Gauze Threadborne and Prairie Johnson, how lucky can a guy be to catch both you villains at once?” he laughs heartily.

He glances down at you, looking like he has something to say when you both hear sirens approaching. A pair of police cars swerve into the gas station. Four officers walk out and greet the hero before he explains the situation.

“These two were driving down this street, speeding in a stolen car, as usual when they nearly ran into this young lady. Luckily, I arrived on time to stop them. They unfortunately made a brief escape, taking advantage of a remote detonator that was held next to the engine of the stolen car. I tailed them to this gas station, the man employed here escaped without issue. We fought, and, thanks to this young lady, I was able to apprehend them both.”

The manner in which he says all this sounds much more professional than how he had spoken to you before.

The ratty woman, Prairie, screeches, cutting through their conversation. “I ain’t gettin’ inside that clunker, ‘specially not without my baby cakes in there with me!”

“Oh, sweetie pie don’t you fret,” coos the bandage man, Gauze. “We gon’ be together soon enough, don’t you worry your pretty little head.” He turns to the hero “…an’ when we get on the streets again, I’m gunna show this prick that was no way to treat my girl.” He hisses, his hollow eyes staring daggers.

The hero, meanwhile, looks totally oblivious to his threat. He smiles pleasantly at the police officer as he shakes his hand.

“Thanks for your help, All Might.” The officer says, adjusting his cap before climbing into his car. The officers take the criminals and speed off just as fast as they came.

The hero, apparently named All Might, peers down at you with a question in his bright blue eyes. You clear your throat once more.

“I-I um, think this is yours.” You hand him his copy of Flash Gordon.

This was going to be longer but, I think this is an ok length. Don’t wanna overdo it!

~Entro-pie

[distressedpanda]

Not A Fan! (Tom Hiddelston x OFC) Part 3

Warnings: Some Language, Slow burn, Younger woman/Older man, Eventual SMUT

Triggers: Mentions of a dark past (We will get into that later)

Tags: @intransittosomewhere (If you want to be tagged just let me know)

Part 3

That's how we ended up, in my apartment. I couldn't explain why I was leading this stranger upstairs to my loft, but something about his presence was nonthreatening in a way that made me comfortable enough to allow him to stay with me all day. I locked up the shop, thankful the pea coat was long enough to cover the top most holes in my jeans. It being September in New York the temperature was reaching freezing quickly, and I relished the fact that I didn't have to walk across town to get home. We made our way down the sidewalk to a staircase tucked into the side of the building, fiddling with my keys as I climbed the stairs. I glanced over my shoulder to see him swiping his thumb quickly across the screen of his phone. “Watch your head,” I warned as we approached the top landing. The over hang for the top of the stairs slopped down sharply to mirror the roof of the building. Standing at 5'4” myself, this had never been a problem, but with him being over what I guessed was at least 6 feet tall, he could easily clip his forehead on it if he wasn't paying attention.

He looked up and grinned sheepishly, “Sorry, I was trying to get a head start on our evening.” He ducked enough to miss the over hang and stood crouched slightly as I fumbled to get the key in my door, with both of us squished together on the small landing.

“It's fine,” I said, finally fitting the key in the lock. “I was just trying to keep you from getting a concussion . . .” I trailed off as I looked over my shoulder again. He was pressed against my back, and his face was so close to mine that I trembled as his nose brushed against mine. I knew he was standing close to me, but this was too much. I quickly turned the key and opened the door, creating my escape. He sighed heavily, as I stepped away from him and cleared my throat, “You can come in to make your phone calls, I will put on some tea.”

The apartment had an open floor plan, right over the top of the shop. The kitchen to the right, with a bar that separated it from the living area and the bedroom area to the left, that was simply a raised platform with my queen size bed pushed into the corner of it. A night stand and chest sat up on the platform as well and at the foot of the bed was a door that led to a large walk in closet. The only other door in the place, was against the same wall and led to a spacious bathroom and laundry area. I loved it. All the open space meant I could see everything, and the best part was the row of picture windows set high against the ten foot ceiling of the back wall, allowing natural light to filter in during the day and a wonderful view of the skyline at night.

“You drink tea?” Tom said as he closed the door and stepped into the apartment.

I nodded my head, quickly removing my coat to hang it on one of the hooks next to the door along with my keys. I turned to the kitchen grabbing the kettle off the stove and walked over to the sink to fill it with water. I looked up to see him walking around my living room which consisted of a small flat screen and DVD player on a brown metal stand against the cream colored wall and a brown leather couch and cream colored chair and a half framing out that half of the room. A cream, beige, and brown rug lay in the middle under a dark wooden coffee table.

“I didn't know American's drank hot tea,” he removed his blazer and slung it over the arm of the couch before taking a seat and beginning to swipe through his phone again.

“I think you will find I am not like anyone you have ever met before, Thomas” I grinned at the look he gave me when I used his full first name and quickly decided to continue using it, as I put the water on to boil. “I am go to go freshen up, I will be right back.”

He nodded, as I slipped into the bathroom. I walked across to the mirror above my sink, and grabbed my hairbrush off the shelf underneath it. Pulling it quickly through my hair I rid myself of the few tangles, then reassessed my appearance. This was as good as it was gonna get without taking a shower and reapplying my makeup, and I wasn't about to bath with a man in my home. I was about to open the door again and check the kettle when I heard Thomas's voice filter through the door, “I met someone, Chris.”

I eased the door open a crack, so I could hear better, not wanting to eavesdrop but not really being able to help myself all the same. I listened intently to his side of the conversation and watched as he paced back and forth in front of the couch.

“No, its not like that,” he paused for the response on the other end, licking his lips and removing his glasses, he held them between two fingers and rubbed his forehead, “No, you don't understand, she doesn't know who I am.” Another pause as a distinctly male voice came through the line but as hard as I tried I couldn't make out what the response was, “She is not a fan! Apparently she doesn't have time for television,” pause, “She works in a mask shop downtown, and she doesn't have any movies from the look of it. I don't even know why she has a television,” pause, “That's enough! I like her, that's it. I just want to see if there is something more.” He stopped pacing and ran his hand still holding the glasses, through his unruly curls as he listened, biting his bottom lip, “Yes Chris, I am in her home and of course I am being careful. Besides, she is probably 50 kilos soaking wet!” A hearty laugh sounded loudly through the line and Thomas blushed and became agitated at the response that followed, “I am not thinking that way and you shouldn't be either. Your mind is fool indeed,” he stated sternly, and I could easily guess that the comment had been of a sexual nature, and I covered my mouth quickly to keep the giggle from escaping as my own blush formed. “I am perfectly safe, I assure you. I was simply calling to let you know that we will have to meet tomorrow.”

I had missed part of the conversation, trying to reign in my hysteria, and quickly decided that I should cut my eavesdropping short before I found myself unable to hold back any other reactions. I pulled the door open and exited the bathroom, quickly making my way across to the stove. As the kettle started to whistle, I removed it from the heat and heard him end the phone call, “I will let you know in the morning what time I will be available tomorrow. Goodbye Chris.”

I heard him sigh heavily, as he hung up the phone and I grabbed two tea cups and gathered the sugar and cream as well. Placing them on the bar, I looked up to see him replacing his glasses on his face and begin swiping across his phone before glancing up at me. A small smile played across his lips as he walked over to lean across the bar toward me, “So, Miss Cadence, what is it that I can do to make an evening out with a celebrity more accommodating for you?”

I blushed and hid behind my hair as I poured the tea, “I am not sure what you mean, but you really don't have to do this, ya know?” I pointedly avoided his eyes, as I pushed a cup across the bar toward him, and added a little sugar to my own. I picked up the cup by the handle and blew softly across the top of the piping hot liquid. Before I could take a sip, I caught his rapt stare and cocked an eyebrow back at him, “What?”

“You already agreed to have dinner with me, and then invited me into your home, Miss Cadence,” a sly grin formed across his lips, “You can't back out now,” he blew across the top of his own tea as well and then took a sip. He moaned appreciatively, and smiled widely at me, “This is the best tea I have had in the states. Where did you learn to make it?”

I chuckled, sipping my own tea before answering, “I am certain you are just trying to flatter me, and please just call me Alyse, Thomas.” I watched his eyes darken at the use of his name again, shivers ran up my spine, causing the tea in my cup to dance dangerously close to the edge.

“Alright, Alyse,” my name like a purr from his lips. “But you didn't answer my question,” his blue eyes almost turning black as he playfully narrowed his gaze at me, as he raised his cup to his lips.

I became distracted by the motion, watching his lips adhere to the side of the cup to drink the warm liquid inside. I almost forgot the question, shaking my head quickly, “My mother taught me. She is amazing when it comes to proper etiquette and made sure I was always prepared for anything,” I shrugged my shoulders at him, like it should have been no big deal.

“She sounds like an amazing woman,” he said, finishing his cup and setting it back on the counter.

“She is.”

He leaned against the bar top on his elbows, “So Alyse,” he purred again, making me think he knew exactly what he was doing to me, “Are you wanting a head to toe experience, or do you just need the dress?”

I nearly spit the tea I was drinking in his face, and coughed as I swallowed roughly, “You could have worded that better,” I responded hoarsely, watching him roll his eyes, red tinging his cheeks as he licked his lips again. My eyes were drawn to the way his tongue moved, before I cleared my throat again, “I am not sure how to go about doing this honestly, I have never exchanged my work for dinner before. So I guess whatever you think is best. . .” I let the sentence drop off.

He chuckled and shook his head, “I think you should let me treat you to whatever I think you are worth,” he purred in a way that made his accent thicker.

Again with the choking, I really couldn't figure out why this man had such an effect on me. “Fine,” I conceded, finishing my tea I grabbed both cups and turned to the sink to rinse them before placing them in the dishwasher. When I lent back over the bar to look at him his inquisitive stare made me giggle, “What?” I asked, “I am not one to argue or pick fights I know I can't win. All I ask is that you don't go over board, please,” linking my hands together in a begging gesture.

He stared at me, with a confused brow that slowly turned into a wide grin, “So tell me what you need?”

I blushed, quickly dropping my head to stare at my still clasped hands, “I would have to know where we are going,” I stated.

Still grinning he shook his head slightly, holding his tongue between his teeth and running his hand through his curls, “That is a surprise, love. Come now, I can't give everything away.”

Hiding behind my long waves, “Then I can't honestly answer your question.” I lifted my eyes to look up at him through my lashes.

He lent back standing to his full height, “You are quite frustrating, little one,” his tone almost harsh, just barely hinting at playful.

“I'm sorry,” I answered automatically, ducking my face again. To many memories from my past rose to the surface from his tone. I knew deep down he hadn't meant anything by it, but life had taught me to take words at their worst possible meaning. Of course, Thomas didn't know this, didn't know about my past.

I could hear his loafers clicking on the wood floor as he walked quickly around the bar toward me. Turning toward him, he moved to stand in front of me, stepping in close enough to have me leaning backwards the bar top grinding into my back. He reached out with both hands, tucking my hair behind my ears and lifting my chin with his thumbs, so he could see my face. A fire started building in my stomach, branching out to every limb. If I let this go on much longer, I would no longer be able to stop the flames from consuming my heart. He sighed heavily, “Never apologize for being who you are, Alyse.” My name on his lips made me dizzy, as he brushed his thumbs along my jaw line, gently back and forth sending electric tingles toward that ever growing fire.

Quickly, I ducked my head out of his reach, sinking under his outstretched arms and fumbling hastily around the bar to put some much needed distance between us, at least on my part. Thomas however seemed determined to enthrall me to him at that very moment, and the disappointment weighed heavily upon his brow, as I stood across from him again.

He lent over onto the bar, propping his chin on his knuckles, “Why do you keep running from me?”

“Because I don't know you,” I deadpanned, trying to cover up the traumatic memories he had stirred.

“Well, well darling. Chris was right about you, you are dangerous.” Seeing my quizzical brow raise, he added, “For my heart, that is.”

“Just the dress,” I suddenly spit out, confusing us both. I swear I had never acted like this before.

He laughed heartily, “Alright then, jumping back to that conversation are we? What about shoes?”

I looked down at my beat up verses, and sighed, “I guess I will need those too.”

He grinned and quirked an eyebrow at me, “Hair and makeup?” I shock my head at him, those I could definitely handle myself. “Nails?” He asked, running that tongue deliciously across his bottom lip again.

I trembled at the allure of that tongue, “N. . .No,” I quickly looked down at the bar top, “No, I work with my hands, can't have nails that will get in the way.” I kept up with my hands, nails trimmed close but clean, they would just have to be good enough.

He nodded decisively, “Of course, how silly of me. Then here is the plan, I know where you live now,” he waggled his eyebrows at me playfully, “So I will go make preparations for dinner, and have the attire delivered to you, while you get ready here. I can't imagine you being comfortable enough to dress with a strange man in your home.” It was like he was reading my mind I swear, “I will be back to pick you up at,” he looked at his phone again, and then grinned up at me, “6 o'clock? If that is alright with you?”

I nodded my head quickly, if I could have this done and over with now it would be better. I really didn't have time for these feelings, whatever they were, did I? “That will be fine, though that is,” I looked down at my own watch, “Four hours from now?” I questioned, wondering how almost two hours had slipped by already.

He chuckled, and lent as far as he could across the bar, which was over half way, “I am certain you can entertain yourself for that long?” he popped an inquisitive and playful eyebrow at me.

I took a deep steadying breath and forced myself not to back away from him as I nodded, staring deeply into those bright blue orbs of his.

He grinned and walked around the bar, back over to my couch, grabbing his coat and drawing it on slowly, watching me watch him the whole time. I tried to steady my heart, as he moved to stand in front of me, extending his hand for one of mine again. I slowly lifted my arm and dropped my hand into his, knowing where it would lead. But he continued to surprise, though he did draw my hand to his lips dropping a kiss to my knuckles, he very suddenly and quickly pulled me into him. Moving his free arm to wrap around my waist, to mirror a dancing pose. The heat rose from my neck to my face and being so close to his body, made it impossible for me to hide my face. Nervously, I stepped into him and let him pull me into his arms, for an awkward hug on my part, as he slowly dropped my hand and wrapped me in a light embrace, my hands resting lightly against his chest. He pulled his head back and rested his forehead against mine, “Do you believe in serendipity, Alyse?”

“I don't know, Thomas,” I answered breathlessly, unable to make my mind work, his scent leaving intoxicated again.

“I have never believed in chance or fate before, but I am starting to now.” He lent back again and kissed my forehead, and as I stood there reeling from all the meanings behind that action, he released me and briskly walked out the door.

[geeky-elf]

If everything goes my way this summer I’ll be moving out in the next few months.  I felt since I’ve never showed off pictures of my room, than why not do so especially after I cleaned up everything this past week.  I’ve made this place my home the past two years just about.  Every little piece of it represents something in my life that is important or relating to my personality or just to satisfy my geeky obsessions once and awhile.  I’m going to be a little sad when I have to move on from this place, but I know its towards better things.  At least I plan to take most of this stuff with me to make my new place feel like home too.  

[fondlinducks]

a snippet of bike ride to mars.

so, a quick side-note: i’m writing a lil book called “bike ride to mars” and i’m purely uploading this because my friend wanted to read it and i kind of want to put my writing on here. but yeah, the main characters for this book are Lauren Moore and Chandler Bury. the context behind the snippet is: Lauren has moved, with her mother and younger brother, to her grandpa’s house down in the south and meets a boy with CAD called Chandler, who lives across the street from her grandpa’s house. Chandler’s incredibly shy and Lauren loves to ask unanswerable questions. Lauren’s mother drags her over to Chandler’s house so that she can try to bond with him so that he doesn’t feel entirely alone all the time. so yeah. happy reading.

word count: 2755 (jeez that’s a lot of words i’m so sorry)

- star.

 'Uh- hey?' Chandler waved his hand in front of my face as I found my eyes fixated onto his bedroom floor. He was wearing an unbuttoned red chequered flannel shirt that overlapped a black t-shirt that had some sort of nerdy band reference on it. His short fringe still flopped over to the left side of his head. He hovered in the doorway, his cheeks flushing a profound red.

  'Sorry-' I apologized for being so deep in thought. Why did I have to think about the stupid little things at the wrong times?

  'It's okay, don't worry.' we stood in the exact same spot for a few seconds before his voice started to perk up again. 'Do you want to come in?'

  'Yeah, sure.' I said, trying to sound as calm and collected as possible.

  I was astounded by how amazing his room was. It was simp-ly everyone's dream bedroom- and if it wasn't practically everyone's fantasy room, then they were probably lying to themselves. The bookcase to the right was stacked from top to bottom with DVDs and astrology books as the channel on the large plasma TV played harmonious indie music. Two large beanbags, a red and a blue one, were squashed together in front of the TV. A large mahogany desk, with a huge PC weighing down on top of it, sat in front of the window that Chandler had watched me dance unaccompanied from. It had a pretty clear sight straight into my bedroom that I could essentially read every single title on the spines of the books on my own shelf. The paint on his walls was a shade of navy blue, excluding away any bright colours that tried to make its way into his room. It seemed dim, but the lights were on. It seemed quiet, but the background music was still playing.

  My eyes ran across the white ceiling just above his bed and noticed how many incandescent glow-in-the-dark stars had been scattered across it. Each little lustrous yellow star had been carefully placed- and that's when I also perceived that each star that made an abstract shape had been connected, star to star, with blemished white chalk. It wasn't striking or obvious if you quickly glanced up at the ceiling and didn't check again. But if you observed it in more detail, you would find snowier and smudged white marks dancing across the roof. I had started to wonder how on earth he could draw each line so carefully without accidentally scrawling a line across the entire thing- and that's when I noticed an un-prominent line inscribed over a small area of the connected stars. It was at a section of the ceiling where Chandler couldn't reach without support. Then a thought sprouted from my brain, linking the accidental line of chalk with it.

  Chandler fell off his chair.

  I turned my head towards his desk again to find the scrap and slightly torn piece of paper with the written words “DON'T WORRY I WON'T TELL ANYONE.” slid under his keyboard.

  'So,' he clapped his hands together as he sank down into the black wheely-chair he had fallen off a few nights ago, 'I'm Chandler?' his introduction came out more as a question, causing me to awkwardly laugh.

 'I'm Lauren.' we exchanged a tight-sealed smile and a nod. He knew I didn't come here voluntarily, so that probably made him feel even more awkward about the entirety of this situation. I perched at the end of his bed- of course it was a waterbed, I thought as it floated up and down as soon as my weight plummeted on top of it. I rolled my eyes a little before they peeked up at the ceiling and stars again. If I had ever decided to randomly draw on my ceiling, mum would go ballistic at me and scream bloody murder until she tore the walls down.

  'Why did you draw on your ceiling?' I pointed upwards at the smeared chalk and glow-in-the-dark stars. He blushed again, as if he was embarrassed about it. I didn't mean to phrase it in a way to make him sound stupid, I was just curious.

  'I don't know really.' he forced out a small chortle before spi-nning the chair around, avoiding eye-contact with me.

  'You do know, you just won't tell me.' he didn't say anything. He was embarrassed. 'I'm not going to walk into school tomorr-ow morning and blurt out in the middle of physics that “Chandler Bury has glow-in-the-dark stars stuck to his ceil-ing”.' my lips pursed as he genuinely laughed before allowing his feet to turn the chair back towards my direction. His bashful eyes slowly rose away from the floor and blinked at me. I smiled at him and he stood away from the chair and sat beside me on the bed, making it bounce up and down as the water mattress rippled from underneath us. He was silent for a few minutes before he let out a sigh.

  'Don't think that I'm weird, or anything-'

  'I've come across a plenty of weirdness,' I stated as his eye-brows raised a little, ' and I don't think you will be able to top the number one weird thing on my weirdness scale.' he chuckled again. He exhaled a breath that he must've held in for a while before the words spilled out of his mouth.

  'I love space,' he blurted out and I found myself watching him struggle to talk about something he loved. It was upsetting. Nobody should ever feel ashamed of sharing the things they loved to someone else. It was like trying to explain questions that I couldn't answer to other people without being dubbed as “weird” or “odd”. '-and sometimes I like watching the stars from that tiny fragment of roof outside my window.'

  'I used to watch the stars from the pavement back home.' I told him. 'My mum always worried about me when she saw me sitting alone in the dark rather than going out with friends.'

  'You can find some sort of comfort when looking up at them though.' he remarked as he squinted his eyes at the ceiling. 'If I've had a shitty day, I would usually sit outside and just watch the sky, really.' Everything he was telling me wasn't as weird as he made it out to be. It seemed generally normal- well to me anyway. If he was telling this to my mum, she would have thought that he was depressed or something. 'I realised a while ago that stars don't really appear when it's foggy, especially in autumn and winter,' I had noticed it too, 'so I literally just copied out the constellations of the Northern Hemisphere onto my ceiling.' I enjoyed star-gazing, but I had no idea what the astrological terms for any of the constellations or stars were. 'So, if it's ever rainy or foggy, I can just lay down in the dark and look at them from here- hence the glow-in-the-dark stars.' I giggled at such a goofy, yet perfect, idea. 'It's weird, I know.'

 'It's really not.' his mouth curved into a smile. 'I'd rate that a negative one-hundred on my weirdness scale; that's negative one-hundred-and-seven spaces away from watching you fall off your chair.' he playfully nudged me and laughed. It didn't feel as awkward to be around him any more.

 'Now that you've asked me why I have kid stickers on my roof,' here comes the question I was actually dreading to answer, 'why do you always dance by yourself-?' and there it was.

 'I don't always dance by myself.' I protested as his right eye-brow arched upwards.

  'Is that so?' he giggled before sitting in the central of the bed, pulling his legs up to his chest and wrapping his arms around his knees. I decided to sit opposite him. 'Because, if I remember correctly, you were dancing alone last night too.' my cheeks were burning up, I hadn't realised he had been watching me last night either. I really had to start drawing my curtains shut whenever I wanted to secretly dance.

  'I'll drop the whole “Chandler-Fell-Off-His-Chair” scenario if you drop this.' I laughed as he shook his head.

  'No no no,' he giggled, 'that's not how it works.' my eyes rolled into the back of my head as I scoffed. 'Answers first, then we drop it.'

  'I don't know.' I lied.

  'You do know, you just won't tell me.' he mimicked back. I groaned at the visual image fizzling around my head of trying to explain the most silliest and pathetic answer to his question.

  In all honesty, I had no idea why I just randomly danced. It was like how I had no clue why I always sang. Whenever mum saw me dance, or listened to me sing, she just expressed how happy I seemed to be and how much she loved it when I would sing or dance, and I liked to make mum happy.

  'My mum tells me I'm more cheerful when I dance- and sing-'

  'It's a good job that I haven't caught you singing to yourself,' he grinned at me before adding 'yet.'

  'Hopefully that “yet” will never happen.' he laughed when I discouraged the concept of ever singing in front of him. It was just simply one of those things that would never happen, despite how much he probably wanted it to.

We sat cross-legged on his bed for almost two hours, talking utter nonsense until mum interrupted our conversation with a knock on the door and opened it up marginally to peek her head through. I was expecting her to explain to Chandler that we had to leave, even though it had only turned 6 o'clock, before single-handedly dragging me out of his house. Instead she just said that she was having another cup of coffee with Amanda and that we would have to leave when she had finished it. I couldn't understand why we had to leave, or why I had to. 

  When the squeaky door finally shut and the sound of foot-steps plonking down the stairs started to parrot outside of his room, Chandler stood away from his bed and started to rummage through his school bag. Textbooks were thrown to one side as he started retrieving many scrunched up pieces of paper from the bottom of his bag. Some of the paper balls had black marker scrabbled over them; they were probably his notes that he had to remember for classes. He dropped his orange English book, with his name written on the front, on top of the pile of textbooks. His handwriting was so immaculate and effortless; it was tiny and precise and way much neater than my own. Part of me wanted to skim through his English book and stare at his beautiful handwriting and read his stories through how he had written them. The last item he flung to the ground before recovering a small black book was a paltry rectangular brown box- the exact same copy that Todd had slipped out of his blazer pocket during lunch on Monday. I felt like tearing up at the sight of the substantial thick words “SMOKING KILLS” printed on the front. He really wasn't trying to help himself to reduce his chances of dying from his unfortunate disease. Like Todd, he seemed cute until he hauled out a cigarette packet. His thin fingers gripped firmly against the book as he stood back up and turned to face me, offering me the little book as I bent down in front of him to pick up the packet. Perhaps it was just an empty box, I prayed as I care-fully opened it up, only to find that the box was fully brimmed with cigarettes. My jaw clenched as I glared at the cigarette packet, and then back at him before his eyebrows fluted at my apathetic stare, letting him know he was unbelievably stupid.

  'What's wrong?' his clutch around the book loosened as he dropped his arm by his side and stared at the cigarette packet.

  'I told somebody to stop smoking these because they were killing a perfectly good set of lungs that someone else, like you, would've wanted.' I snapped. His confused expression slowly dropped into a smirk before his eyes trailed to the floor.

  'So, I take it that everyone's told you the tale about the “Sick Boy”.' he disappointedly chuckled. It didn't make any sense why he would laugh at his own illness.

  'No one at school has told me something that I didn't already know.' When Chandler walked in late during that first physics lesson, everyone started murmuring rude comments about him. I did hear phrases directed at his CAD, but it didn't shock me in a way that I knew nothing about it. It shocked me that people were using his illness as a reason to make his life a living hell. It seemed like he was accomplishing it himself without the help of other people. 'My grandpa told me.' he sadly nodded his head. I stood still for a long time until Chandler rushed up to me and took the packet away from my clasped hands. He brought it up to his head and shook it, rattling the cigarettes together until he stopped.

  'I've never smoked a cigarette in my life.' he opened up the packet and showed me all the stacked up and aligned cigarettes, 'There's still-' he froze for a minute before counting each cigarette, 'twenty cigarettes in this pack. I have never touched them, let alone smoked them.' he smiled.

  Needless to say, I was very confused. What was the purpose in wasting money on buying a packet of cigarettes that he wasn't even willing to use?

  'Why did you buy the packet then?'

  'Again, don't think I'm weird-' I didn't protest against him this time, he was certainly weird. 'when I turned sixteen I wanted to buy a pack of cigarettes, just to know what it felt like to have them in my possession.' I felt my eyebrows crumple together. He let the box fall to the floor before exchanging out the black book, allowing me to take it from him as I stared at the front cover. It had a variety of deep pink swirls that intertwined with the black base, almost resembling a galaxy as white specs sprinkled over it all. Images of planets were stamped on top of the magnificent background. Uncovering my teeth, I smiled a little as Chandler timidly rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. 'When I started talking about different constellations, you looked kind of lost.' he chuckled. Did I really look that dumb-founded when he was discussing every little aspect of astrology I didn't understand? Apparently so.

  'Thank you.' my grin widened half way across my face before Chandler started heading towards the window, shoving it up-wards as I flicked through the book, catching glimpses of some of the constellations he had talked about earlier. 'What are you doing?' I questioned him as he stretched one leg out of the window, planting it on the roof.

  'You can read it whilst we actually watch them,' his other leg jumped out of the window, leaving just his arms gripping onto the windowsill and his head poking out from the darkness. 'I mean, if you want to.'

  'Of course.' I lost count of how many times I had smiled within the past few hours of being with him. He was genuinely so sweet. Skipping towards the window, with the book in my hand, I was ready to hop out of the window-

  Until someone knocked on Chandler's door again.

  Mum gently swung the door open, however Amanda was standing beside her this time. I knew it was time to leave, but I didn't want to go home yet. I knew that I could've waited another day and dropped by to see him after school, but somehow I knew that it wouldn't be the same. If I stepped outside of Chandler's room, we would probably just act like we didn't know each other again, like we were complete strangers.

  I didn't want to seem like a stranger to him.

  I didn't want him to become a stranger either.

[72823-blog]

The Budget Traveler's Guide to Akihabara Shopping

So you've made it to Japan and are speeding to Akihabara via train, raring to get your hands on some otaku goods. Unfortunately, you've pretty much blown your money already on the plane ticket and hotel. Uguu~ doushiyou~?

Don't fret! If you have the knowhow to make the most of your yen, you'll be more than capable of acquiring a formidable haul for yourself, and be a courteous customer all the while. Here's a guide with some tips to make you a battle-ready smart shopper before you head to the fated Denki-gai / Electric Town station exit.

Note: Japanese phrases will be Romanized if they're primarily encountered in speech, and written out in kanji / kana if it's helpful to know how to read them.

Etiquette and Common Sense

First and foremost, you need to know the rules of engagement so as not to step on any toes (literally or figuratively) during your time in Akihabara.

"Remember your please and thank you." At a minimum, add these handy phrases to your Japanese vocabulary: onegaishimasu ("please," use as you bring your purchases to the counter); arigatou gozaimasu ("thank you," use anywhere it makes sense); shitsureishimasu ("excuse me," use to get someone's attention if you're moving past them, etc); sumimasen ("sorry," use if you accidentally bump into someone, knock something over, etc).

Whether driving or walking in Japan, stick to the left side. This is particularly important in the cramped stairs and walkways in Akiba's numerous shops, and helps everyone navigate around quickly and smoothly.

Be aware of your surroundings. Make room for people to move past, especially in tight areas (in return, most Akihabara-goers will make room for you even if they just hear your footsteps). Watch your back, especially if you're wearing a backpack, so you don't knock over sometimes precariously stacked items.

Be conscientious about photo and video. Lots of spots will have signs forbidding camera use, so keep an eye out for when it is or isn't okay. Also, people in Japan are sometimes less comfortable with being in a stranger's pictures and video than Western cultures are used to, so snap politely.

Refrain from phone calls and loud conversations while indoors; even if you're not called out for it, it can really annoy people.

Put items that you take out of their shelves back into the same spot, as best you can. Store inventory is usually sorted within shelves, not just by obvious details like author or price, but oftentimes by other factors such as genre, subject matter, and event of release (e.g. Comiket, M3)

There are these neat little trays at many shop registers that you put your payment (cash or card) into. It's polite to use the tray, and can make it easier to deal with small change to boot!

Save the unboxing for later! It might be tempting to open up the limited edition Magical Salaryman Daigorou BD with oppai mousepad that you just dropped mad yenzz for right outside the store, but hold off until you're back at the hotel.

Bargain-Hunting General Tips

Thanks for listening to my nagging. Now onto the fun stuff!

Bring cash! Not all stores will support your credit card, and those that do might incur a foreign transaction fee (look at the terms of your card to make sure). Cash is also a good way to place a hard cap on spending and keep you to your budget!

Pay very close attention to store signage! Large-scale discount and sales events will be announced with banners and bright colors, but not all deal will be announced with that level of fanfare. Keep an eye out for bundle discounts, price drops, and special items (特典, "tokuten," items that you claim at the register in addition to the item you purchase). Almost every store will have some kind of promotion active at any one time.

On a similar note, many stores have sections dedicated to lower-priced items, usually due to excess stock, older age, or being pre-owned. And it's not like these are bottom-of-the barrel goods either; these items are more often than not high quality stuff that gets moved out of the way for a near-constant stream of new arrivals. I've seen new, unopened games only 6 months old get discounted down 50%, and full volumes of manga just a couple years old dropped down from 600円 to a stunning 100円 a book. For the budget-conscious buyer, the low-price sections of Akihabara's stores is where the magic happens!

I mentioned before that store inventories are usually sorted in some way or another. If you're looking to buy something particular, it's a huge time-saver to scan through the shelves and find out the logic behind the organization, which is sometimes not explicitly labeled. For example, Toranoana's music CD section has signs letting you know it's organized by circle name. Some of the store's doujinshi shelves are organized the same exact way, but might not tell you.

Store layouts will often accommodate the most recent media market event, such as Comitia for manga, M3 for music, and Comiket for pretty much everything. These nicely-made displays are the place to go if you're looking to splurge on a long-awaited release by your favorite artists! Otherwise, you'll find most savings and discounts beyond these shelves.

A little Japanese language goes a long way. Here are some words to look out for, especially in store signage:

¥ / 円. Yen, pronounced "en." Prices are formatted like ¥1000 or 1000円.

万 Stands for 10,000. 3万円 equals 30,000 yen. Not used often.

Item counters. 本 for thick books, 冊 for thin ones (like magazines or doujinshi), 枚 for flat items such as DVDs, CDs, and games. Very helpful for deciphering common discounts such as "5枚 －＞ 20%ＯＦＦ！"

中古, or more simply 古, indicates used items, most likely at a deep discount! Notes such as damage and used-up redemption codes will be written on the label, and you can bring it to the counter if you have questions.

一般 "general," as in "for general audiences." 成年 "adult," as in "for adults only." If buying items marked with the latter, you could be asked to confirm your age ("nenrei") is over 18, in which case any license with your date of birth will do.

ポイントカード "pointo kaado" for "point card." A store-specific card that acts sort of like a store membership. You can apply for one if you foresee making frequent purchases at a location, given you can overcome the language gap. However, point cards aren't mandatory for purchases and you'll also be fine without one; if you're asked at the register whether you have one, a simple "iie" or head-shake will do the job.

Geography and Store Selection

The majority of the Denki-gai is centered around two strips of buildings around a single, central street. It's right next to the JR station and hard to get lost!

Prices can vary greatly across stores! If you find something you like at a price you don't, hold off on the purchase and check out other stores. That same item might just pop up again at a better price! However, certain items are priced according to their suggested retail price no matter where they're sold: this is very common for new releases of manga, books, and games.

Be careful in stores that overtly advertise themselves as being tourist-friendly or multilingual. Many are totally harmless, honest businesses, but certain shops will mark up their prices to a premium, at worst being unreasonably expensive. The most unscrupulous variety will sell fake, lower quality products (this is especially dangerous for electronics!). Saddening that I have to warn you about this, but it is what it is.

You might have noticed that some stores have multiple Akihabara locations, sometimes just a couple hundred feet from each other (Toranoana, Sofmap, and Trader are just a few examples). The inventories and product categories featured will be very different, with the only major overlap being the most popular items. It's worth exploring each one!

Some stores will span a whole 6+ floors with specialized categories for each level, while others are tiny single-floor affairs that can be easy to miss. For example, there's an itty-bitty Melonbooks located underground down an unassuming flight of stairs, and a doujinshi-focused Toranoana on the third floor above a completely different shop! If you're having a hard time finding out where a particular store is located, there's usually some signage outside that will point you in the right direction.

If you have time, wander off the main street! Otherwise, you might miss gems like the utterly massive Bookoff (where I found shelf after shelf of 100円 manga).

Details, Quirks, and Miscellanea

Most stores in the Electric Town will open at 10 or 11 AM. Closing times vary, but you can expect 90% of stores to be open until 8 PM, with 10-11 PM being a very standard closing time.

Make sure to purchase your items on the same floor you find them stocked! If there is no register that floor, go to the register on the closest floor to you.

Don't worry about bringing bags to carry your purchases, stores will bag your items at the register, and will give you a large bag to carry multiple smaller ones, even if they're from other stores!

Yes, it's normal for some shops to tape your bags closed or use two bags to obscure the contents; it's for privacy's sake. No, you won't look like a criminal on the train back.

Paper-bound items will usually have a sample copy at the very top/front of the stack, which you can use to preview the work. Make sure to buy a normal copy!

Trading-card shops will sometimes have placeholder items in their shelves. Take the desired number of each to the front counter and you can exchange them for the real deal.

Another trading-card tip: sometimes the cashier will ask you if you have a proper deck ("dekki") for the TCG in question. They're just making sure you're not mistakenly buying a booster pack as opposed to a starter!

Similarly, when buying older games, particularly for PC, the cashier might ask to ensure your home system has the right specs ("spekku") to play it.

Shop staff will often greet customers with "irasshaimase" (welcome), if you're wondering what they're saying every time someone walks in.

Prepare your legs for a lot of walking and stair-climbing. Like, a LOT. Before my second trip to Akihabara I did leg workouts in preparation, I kid you not.

And that's all I got. If it sounds helpful to y'all I might add a store-specific guide in the future, for those looking for a specific category of goods to buy. For now, I hope this guide has been of some use. Best of luck out there.

[oldnintendonerd]

Pickup Post #9 - No more sun, no more fun

Well, as you may have guessed, living in the mid-west, it is almost winter, rapidly approaching the official first day on December 21st. The yard sales petered out completely about 2 months ago in mid October, maybe a little earlier. If you recall I mentioned they were already slowing down at the end of August on my last post. All I have left now are thrift stores and work finds to go on. I have decided to stop checking LetGo and OfferUp as a safety measure. Some stories about folks basically being mugged or even shot at those transactions spooked my wife and I and we decided that I not use personal meet up options. This will cut down on the finds yes, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.

We had a really long dry spell these last few months too. While the first game was found back in August, and the second on the first day of September,  everything else shown here were all found after November 1st. The Yard Sale scene dried up only a few weeks after the first was found, and even then was already becoming sparse pickings. Recon was showing next to nothing for video games, and what sales I would hit, wouldn’t have any out, already sold what they did have listed before the sale even scheduled to start (damn swap meet and flea market parasites! Have you no couth!?), or didn’t have any to bring out if I asked. Very discouraging. Must be the area. I see so many people with Youtube channels that can still find tons of stuff in their area, they can still put together videos around monthly. Not here. So this tells you why no posts until now, this is the first time Ive had a good amount of finds to even show.

It’s not to say I have nothing to report, the thrift stores have not been too bad at least for disc based games. This is a pretty good post in the game department, though we are going on about 3 months of stuff here, rather than just one, so that helps I guess. Unfortunately no hardware finds to report, these are all games. But quite a few, so settle in anyway, I have pictures of everything, it’s a long way to the bottom.

I’ll try to put everything in the order I found it, with the date I found it if I have it.

We are going all the way back to the end of August for the first one.

Resident Evil 4 - Wii Edition found 8.21.17 at Goodwill.

Pretty good shape. Disc has some light scratches, but plays the game fine. Some discoloration on the case, it is a little more brown than I’d like so that could stand an upgrade. Manual is pretty crispy, I like to see that.

This one supports a classic controller, which I will probably use if I ever get around to playing it. Alternatively, I may emulate it on Dolphin, both to get a better resolution, and just the ease of using a PS2 controller. Couldn’t pass it up complete in box. $3.21.

Moving on.

Next one is the first of only two Sony console games in the list, the rest are for Nintendo consoles. A little bit of a flip from the beginning of the blog where it seemed like the Sony PS2 finds would go on forever.

Need For Speed Underground - Found 09.01.17 at Goodwill

Not a HUGE NFS fan, but as I stated in a previous post, I did like the Hot Pursuit games back in the day on the PSX. So I’m giving these a chance.

Case and manual are in great shape as you can see. Disc is above average, and it plays fine. It won’t install using HD Loader though, which is weird, but I’m not that worried about it. If anything I may emulate this one as well, I can always rip an image of it with my Mac. From there I can play it that way or manually put it on the PS2 HDD. It was an impulse buy in September, I was desperate after more than a two week dry spell. Little did I know I was in for almost exactly a two month dry spell after that. Regret buying it now? Maybe a little, but we’ll see later when we get to it, maybe it will be a fun play. On to the next.

My son is a Mickey fanatic right now. He has a giant plushy that is almost as tall as he is that he carries everywhere. He watches Mickey Mouse Club House, and Mickey and the Roadster Racers, pretty much daily. So when I saw this one I had to pick it up. If for nothing else to give him a kick out of being able to control his favorite character. Even if he is still too young to even figure out how to get out of the first chamber.

Epic Mickey - Found 11.01.17 at Goodwill.

About as good of shape as Resident Evil 4, no damage to the case, artwork is in good condition, manual is pretty crisp, and the disc has about the same light scratches on it. So it plays fine. Kid loved it by the way.

One thing that made me nervous even before buying it though was this warning on the back of the case:

I do have a modded Wii, I use USB Loader GX with the Home Brew channel to load my games from a 64 GB USB thumb stick. All the games I have loaded are in my collection, I don’t download or pirate games. Everything is legit, and even the images are of MY OWN games. It is simply to make it more convenient, and so I don’t have to handle my games just to play them. So to tell me I can’t play a game on MY OWN Wii simply because it has an innocent mod seemed ridiculous to me.

Until I thought about it a little more.

It is less ridiculous than I initially thought simply because of the fact that I do understand that the mod would allow you to download games and play them, so I can’t be too upset at this I suppose. Nintendo couldn’t do much about the modding community, but they could try and make it more difficult (or so they thought) to play real games on these consoles. Just because I have an ethical line drawn doesn’t mean everyone else does. I’m sure most people would be just as happy and guilt free to download images of any game they want and load a huge drive right up with hundreds of gigs of games. Though making someone not be able to play a real game on a modded console would only encourage someone to download that game instead of buy it, so I feel this was ill advised by Nintendo. In any case, personally, I want to see the same games on the screen that I have on the shelf. Period. The benefits are two fold, convenience, I can switch games quicker, and because it is quicker, I’m not handling them and taking them in and out of the case, possibly causing them to receive more scratches and fingerprints. All good reason in my book.

Anyway, enough of that. Back to Epic Mickey. Sure enough, when I put it in to test it prompted for an update to the system menu, likely looking to reset it back to factory. Which I would not do. I’m not reverting my Wii just for one game. It took a while to get it just right, where all artwork, games, and titles showed up the way I wanted, and played properly. Instead, I opened USB Loader GX and decided to install the game anyway, see if maybe once it was an image, it would bypass this nonsense.

It did. The game plays fine when launched as an image from USB Loader GX. So this is good news. It will make me less leery of other games that have the same or similar warning. Fantastic.

Next up, Wii Play - Found 11.28.2017 at Goodwill

This one was an impulse buy. I saw it in the bin, it’s only worth a few cents more than I paid for it, which was $3.21. According to Pricecharting it comes in at about $3.79 CIB. I am not planning on selling it, and I will buy games worth a lot less, if I am planning on keeping it for myself, plus, I have heard that it can be fun, and it was in absolute perfect condition.

It looked like someone took it out of the wrapper, played it once, and then stuck it on a shelf until they donated it. So I had to snag it, I’m a sucker for games in immaculate condition. This one is perfect. Flawless disc.

Speaking of immaculate condition.

Max Shininess.

Max crispiness.

Max Payne - Found 11.30.2017 at Goodwill

This one also looked like someone took the cellophane off, played it once, then stuck it on a shelf and it sat there until it wound up at Goodwill. I’ve not tried the Max Payne series, and I figured for $3.21, might as well.

It always impresses me when I can pick up a game that is well over a decade old, and it looks like the day it was unwrapped. Just that perfect mirror shine that you can usually only get on a brand new game.

What story does this or any new condition game tell? Did it literally sit on a shelf and not move for 10 or more years before it was swept into a box and brought to Goodwill? Or was the owner just very careful with his or her games, taking really good care of them every time they were played, perhaps loading it on a HDD to play without touching the game further just as I did? Somehow I picture the former more than the latter. But you never know. Here it now sits.

This next one isn’t a great game, or even in great condition, but I was absolutely FLOORED to find any GameCube game at a Goodwill, some others might see it all the time, but I never see that. Gamecube at my Goodwills is like seeing a Unicorn. Often even if you do it is a terrible sports title. This wasn’t a terrible sports title. Maybe a terrible title, that remains to be seen, but it wasn’t sports!

Pac Man Vs. / Pac Man Adventure 2 - Found 11.30.2017 at Goodwill

Unfortunately it is in very rough shape, and is missing a disc.

DOH!

I almost put it back on the shelf, really. Especially when the one player game was the one missing. I can’t even play the game that remained unless I have two people. But I thought, well, they are usually pretty flexible here, maybe I can get it for a buck or two less if I ask.

I asked.

She offered to reduce it down to the DVD price, instead of the video game price. So $1 off. Not terrible, so about $2.13 or so for that one. I decided to snag it anyway. I probably could have argued down to $1, or maybe even free, the manager there is pretty nice. But she was unavailable at the time and it wasn’t worth that much hassle. I got a discount. Can’t complain. Maybe the other disc will turn up at some point in my future hunting.

I did also get an empty Wii Play case for free. This is something any collector should try to do. They typically throw away the game cases that have no games in them, I assume this is true at most Goodwill stores. If one makes it out onto the shelf, or perhaps gets relieved of its disc while on the floor by another, much less scrupulous patron, I bring them to the counter with my purchase. They always let me take them for spares at no charge. Wii Play is certainly not the most valuable game or case to have, especially with having picked up an immaculate copy already, I don’t even need a case upgrade. But any spare case in general never hurts when you are in this business. Beat up cases come along all the time. See the Pacman case above, wish I had a spare one of those. Though double disc cases are a little harder to come by for GameCube though. Only a handful of double disc games on that platform, I think 23 or so the last time I looked. A lot of the Resident Evil games were multidisc, a couple TMNT titles I believe, and I recall a 007 game, and I think a Lord of the Rings game in there. The bonus disc copy of Mario Kart DD had one too. So unless I come across an EMPTY case for one of those 23 or so games, I doubt I get an update for this case. One possibility is I find an empty case for JUST Pac Man Vs. *shrug*

In any case... (ha! pun intended), last from that set, a game I have not played on this platform, and one I have not played in a VERY long time in general.

A remake.

One that does actually look to have been done quite well. At least from what small amount I’ve seen of it so far.

007 Goldeneye on the Wii - Found on 11.30.2017 at Goodwill

I am not sure how I feel about this one. I have always been a very big proprietor of no first person shooters on consoles. Ever. Mouse and keyboard is natural, controllers are clunky, slow, and just generally terrible for FPS games. Because of this I was never a big fan of this game on the N64. But I did play it, I own it, and it wasn’t that bad as a single player game. When it came out, I was big into Doom, Quake and Quake II, especially Quake II death match. Which is insanely fast paced and action packed. For Goldeneye, my friends are like OMG it’s amazing, you have to try this, 4 player death match!

So we play, and I’m having the hardest time aiming, getting shot in the back taking MANY SECONDS to even turn around and shoot back where with the mouse its a twitch of the hand and I’m turned around and firing back at the person. Plus it’s only 4 people, I’m used to 12+ person bloodbaths. I just couldn’t get into it. So the death match / multi player, while what most people would say was the games best feature, fell flat on its face for me.

I had a little more fun with the single player game, the controls you can get used to, and the AI is a little more forgiving to you know, make it possible.

This game has all redone graphics, voice acting, the whole nine yards. Should be an interesting trip down memory lane.

It’s in good shape, crispy manual, case in good shape. Barely a scratch on the disc, can even see the online code that was used to unlock “Classic Conflict Mode”. Not 100% sure what that is, I would have to google it to remember.

Next up, the final two finds from just a few days ago.

Worms: A Space Oddity - Found 12.04.17 at Goodwill

I used to play Worms World Party on the Dreamcast back in the day. Always fun. Especially with friends. This one was not valued very high, even CIB, but I intended to keep this one for myself.

I think Pricecharting has it at about $4.99. So still a deal based on that, I’m sure it’ll be worth a play, and my son likes Angry Birds so he may dig this as he gets older.

Finally, last one for this post, on the same trip as the Worms find, I found this little gem.

Dragonball: Revenge of King Piccolo

Not a Dragonball fan, but when I saw it I knew it had to be at least double digit value. Those anime type games usually have good prices. Sure enough I peeked on pricecharting and it is going for $14.99. Yup, no interest in playing that one but it will be going home with me and straight up on eBay. $15 value is about the minimum I would need to buy something from a Goodwill to sell on eBay. After buying the game for $3, Paypal fees, eBay fees and shipping, even on a DVD case video game you are looking at netting perhaps $7. I’m ok with that, but anything less than that and forget it.

Good condition case, crispy manual, good disc. It should get me a good $6 - $8 in pocket after all fees and shipping. Cover the cost of at least 2, if not 3 more games from the Goodwill down the road.

So that is it for finds on this post. Here’s the recap Pic that I will probably post on Instagram as well. @oldnintendonerd.

The official business. We had eight games from Goodwill at the normal $2.99 plus tax making it $3.21 total. It was Resident Evil 4, Need for Speed Underground, 007 Goldeneye, Epic Mickey, Wii Play, Worms: A Space Oddity, Dragonball: Revenge of King Piccolo, and Max Payne at that price.

Total $25.68

Pac Man was a reduced price totaling $1.99 plus tax at $2.13. Grand total for this set of finds is $27.81.

$83.90 - $27.81 = $56.09 game hunting money remaining.

As for future funds, I still have a loose copy of Mario Kart Wii to put on eBay, as well as the Dragonball game from this post, so we have a chance to recoup at least $10 - $15 of that back. I was just asked about my PS2 bundle which caused me to retest it. unfortunately it is not reading the more beat up discs very well. This is the one I fixed. Still boots right up to games that are closer to like new condition. But it really struggles on the beat up ones. The PS2 I have at home as “My PS2″ boots up these beat up ones just fine. So the one I have for sale appears to be getting tired. I’ll see if I can adjust it some more and get more of the discs to read, if not, I may deeply discount it for her just to get rid of it. Buyer would know full well she’d have to get discs in good shape for them to play is all.

Hopefully the thrift stores keep providing some bounty as the winter months settle in. Though I’m thinking a lot of cleaning and donating doesn’t really get done this time of year, but I’m still hopeful.

I probably won’t post again until 2018 sometime. Hopefully at least once before Yard Sale season really kicks off, but I can’t promise anything. Happy hunting and happy holidays!

2017.12.08

[benjamingarden]

Declutter Your Home This Weekend! (Plus, How Decluttering Your Home Will Save You Money)

I'm sure it seems daunting to consider decluttering an entire home in one weekend.  ONE WEEKEND!  In fact, you've likely thought I'm crazy for even suggesting it!  We aren't talking about a full-on, take all of the boxes out of the attic or basement declutter session, but rather a weekend surface purge.  Kind of a jumpstart to your simplification and decluttering journey. We go through our days making mental notes that "I need to go through that one day" or "I really need to get rid of some of my clothes".  But we don't.  Because life gets in the way and the thought of taking a few hours to go through your closet, and kitchen, and linen closet, and everything else is, well, overwhelming. So what I'm suggesting is a one weekend declutter.  It's a great tactic if your home has previously been thoroughly purged or you just need an opportunity to go through every cupboard and drawer to ensure first, that you know what's there and second, to ask yourself if you still want to keep every item.  It's also a great way to start decluttering your home for the first time as noted above. Pulling Together A Decluttering Plan The best way to set-up a successful weekend purge is to think about the details ahead of time. 1. Make sure your meals are planned (and already pulled together if possible).  Consider freezer meals, or quick & easy meals, where you won't need to spend a lot of time cooking or cleaning up. 2. Figure out ahead of time where your "donate" and "throw" items will go.  Do you have a local thrift store?  What are their hours?  What do they accept/not accept?  If you have more items than your garbage can will be able to handle, do you have other options?  The reason this is important is you need to get rid of them THIS weekend.  Otherwise, you risk the items weaseling their way back into your home. 3. Enlist all family members (depending on the ages of the kiddos) to assist.  Your family members can go through their own items, help where needed with other areas, and to (hopefully) see the work it takes so they will work with you to keep the clutter at bay going forward. 4. Pull together any supplies you anticipate needing: boxes, tape, markers, labels, bins, etc.  Also think about cleaning supplies.  If you'll be emptying drawers, getting to the back of closets, etc., why not do a quick cleaning while you're at it? 5. Schedule your rooms.  I know that this seems like an unnecessarily rigid approach, however, it is easy to get lost in the details of one room and suddenly the weekend is over.  So, I recommend taking Friday evening, all of Saturday, and all of Sunday and breaking it up depending on how many rooms you have.  Then give more time to the rooms that will take the most time (usually the bedroom, kitchen and garage). For instance, I have our home office, living room, bathroom, kitchen, master bedroom and garage.  I wouldn't have a need to purge the dining room, laundry room, spare bedroom, or entry room. Friday night I would schedule the kitchen.  The cupboards, drawers, pantry, refrigerator and freezer would all be gone through. Saturday I would start in the bedroom (no need in procrastinating the most difficult rooms) and allow myself 2-4 hours (depending on how cluttered it is) to go through all of my clothes, shoes, etc.  After lunch I would move to the bathroom for an hour, then the living room for an hour, and then the home office for 2-3 hours.  Paper takes time to sort through. Sunday would be the garage.  All. Day. Long.  (maybe you don't have a garage but have a shed, or an attic, or a basement in need of a good declutter session)

How Should Each Room Be Purged? Decluttering is really step one in trying to simplify your life.  It's kind of like when you start on a journey to save money.  The first step must always be to identify what you spend your money on.  Not what you think or estimate you do, but an actual list for 2-3 months of what exactly you spend your money on.  Well, decluttering is a way for you to put your hands on every single item you've bought recently.  It allows you to see what you buy and then determine if they are emotionally charged purchases or impulsive purchases.  It also allows you the opportunity to look at what you keep so you can work on the "why" in an effort to curb unnecessary spending and clutter in the future. Here are the basics to take a look at for each of your rooms.  Take the items you are parting with and place them into the appropriate bin immediately.  Don't touch them again so you won't begin questioning your initial gut decision. Master Bedroom - look at each item of clothing, shoes and accessories and ask yourself: "Does it fit? Do I love it?  Do I love the way I feel when I wear it?  Have I worn it in the past year?"  Go through any bedding, books, or whatever else is in your room.  If you have things under the bed, even if you believe you know you won't get rid of any of it, go through it.  You may have forgotten exactly what is there.  Put "keep" items back and load "sell", "donate" and "throw" items into appropriate bags/bins.

well, I've finally found a positive to still not having my kitchen completed - easy to take pantry photos!

Kitchen - go through every drawer and cupboard.  Pull items out and ask yourself "Do I use this?  Do I need this?"  If there are food items in your pantry that you've never used and don't foresee using (be honest with yourself), maybe find a food pantry that these items can be donated to.  Someone, somewhere will be thrilled to receive them.  If, instead, you find food items that you've forgotten about and you believe you will use them, enter them into the next week's meal plan to ensure they don't get pushed to the back of the pantry again.

(things we use most often are lower and those used less often are higher)

(my husband built a spice rack to fit my jars perfectly)

Organize your refrigerator, freezer and pantry in a way that makes sense to you.  I have a baking pantry and then an all other foods pantry. It makes sense for me and the way I cook/bake.  In my all other foods pantry, I have grouped the foods based on type (All tomato products are together, but separated into types.  All canned beans together with dried beans stored in a drawer.  Pasta's are together including my husbands vices - rice a roni and boxed mac & cheese.  Coffee grouped just above the coffee machine, etc.)

Bathroom - go through all drawers, cupboards, the medicine cabinet, etc.  Take a look at what's in the shower (on a shower caddy, on the ledges, etc.) and ask yourself if all of the products are still used.  Be honest with yourself and don't get caught up on packaging, price that you paid, memories, etc.  Ask "Do I use this?  Do I like this?  Does this fit into my life?"  Group like items together - all first aid items, all OTC medications, cosmetics, etc. I used to have an obsession with cosmetics.  Small tubes and bottles of all sorts of things cluttered the bathroom.  Fifteen years ago all of those were tossed and I only have the basics, much of what we make ourselves.  I remember purging my cosmetic collection for the first time and finding it very difficult to part with anything.  Whether it be because of what I paid for that very small bottle or because I loved the packaging, I would organize and reorganize it, hoping that would suffice.  And it did not.  Finally I just got tired of it all and tossed everything except for the items that I used daily.  And you know what?  I've truthfully never missed one item. Living Room - look at knickknacks, as well as what's stored on/in end tables, cabinets, baskets, etc.  Ask yourself "Do I love this?  Do I use this?  Does this belong in this room?".  Declutter magazines, books, DVD's and look at each piece of furniture. When I went through our living room and removed some items my husband's first response was "it looks empty, I don't like it".  This is because it certainly looked different (and empty compared to what it was prior).  If you find that you or your spouse have a similar response when you try to part with items you don't love, live with it for 2 weeks.  That's what I ask my husband to do anytime I've made a major change.  If after 2 weeks one of us isn't happy with the change then the items can come back (agree to edit what comes back if there was a clutter problem).  Honestly, we've always been happy with the changes after 2 weeks.

Home Office - If you have a lot of drawers, files, etc. you may need to give extra time to this room.  Go through every single drawer, shelf, etc.  If there's documents you no longer need, shred them.  If there's product warranties for products you no longer have, toss them.  Look at any books, manuals, papers, knickknacks, photos, etc.  Organize anything you keep so that it makes sense to you in order to find it when you're looking for it. Because my husband and I organize differently we've made our one space work for both of us.  In our desk there are identical 3 drawers on both the left and right sides.  He gets one side and I get the other.  In our filing cabinet he has one drawer specific to his needs and I organize the remaining three.  Of those three, one is for all of our bills, medical/dental, home info, taxes, etc.  The second is all of our product warranties & paper receipts grouped by type of product.  And the third is for our business.  I like to file with the category noted on the left and the subcategories noted in the center or on the right. Garage - go through it all.  I know you've just cringed, but you really must look at every single yard tool, gardening product, misc. tools and products, etc.  Go through boxes, bins, baskets, and totes.  Look at sporting equipment and anything else stored there.  Ask yourself "Do we use this?  Do we need this?  Does this belong here?"  Get rid of what's no longer working and re-organize what you've decided to keep in a way that, again, makes sense to you and the way in which you'll use the space and the items within it. In our household, my husband and I have made a deal.  The outbuildings are his spaces to manage and I don't intrude with my own feelings of what should stay or go.  I have decluttered anything that I use/store (gardening tools and products & holiday decorations) and the remainder is up to him.  He has organized all of them very nicely in order to fit what he's chosen to keep.

(my husband built all of our shoe and storage benches as well as the shelving and coat racks.  We each have baskets for outdoor equipment that doesn't fit on the racks)

Decluttering Your Home Will Save You Money As if a clean, uncluttered home wasn't enough, here are a few ways it will save you money! 1. You Will See EXACTLY What You've Bought (and don't use) There's nothing like being confronted with exactly how much stuff you either don't use or no longer have interest in owning to say "hey, stop spending money".  It certainly has been an eye opener for me in the past. 2. Organizational Solutions Are Expensive It can become quite expensive trying to organize all of your stuff.  Instead of organizing it, why not consider getting rid of it? 3. You May Find Things You Forgot About (and avoid buying it again) Have you ever searched for something, sure you have it somewhere, but just can't find it?  Then you go to the store to purchase it, only to come across what you'd sworn you owned later on?  No matter how small the cost, it's a waste of money. 4. Sell It! Yes, this is the obvious way of saving money. Some of the items you may be able to sell at a yard sale, on Facebook's marketplace, or on a site such as ebay. Decluttering your home, even if it's a weekend purge, will make you feel lighter& more organized.  It really is a stress relief and a great way to remind you of goals you've set for yourself both financially and organizationally.

Have You Decluttered Your Own Home?  What Tips Do You Have Or What Struggles Did You Uncover?

Declutter Your Home This Weekend! (Plus, How Decluttering Your Home Will Save You Money) was originally posted by My Favorite Chicken Blogs(benjamingardening)

[valkirsif]

Unthinkable CH 12/???

Tom Hiddleston x Reader

Word 3200

Warning nothing

"How did fly Silly?" Chris asked, turning on the jeep and taking a dirt road that looked like anything but passable,

"Perfect trip and without jolts .." the woman answered holding tight to the rollbar, ".. I can not say the same now, but you have to take all the holes?" She laughed worried as jumped at each bump,

 Chris burst out laughing, put his arm around her shoulders and hugged "Sorry but we're shooting scenes in the woods and the streets are a bit 'rough, the production tries to prevent the curious discover where we work so no road is been adjusted or reported",

"So we're going to the set?" She asked curiously, the idea of ​​being in the middle of the filming surrounded by people set her anxious, she stopped thinking when looked out the window was beautiful, the road bordered a river and the other side it opened a forest among the greenest she had ever seen, there was only nature as far as the eye could see,

"We do not go to the set but to the village built for the crew and actors, each of us has a kind of house we will have all the privacy we want" the man answered turning and stopping in front of a gate, the guard checked who he was and looked the guest before opening and letting them pass,

"Now you're down so nobody will notice you," he whispered to the woman in spy tones, Y/N stifled a laugh and lowered head resting on the man's knees, she heard many voices, people waving and Chris answering, the road had improved at least she did not hit all sides, a few minutes after the jeep stopped heard the creak of a door sat up looking around, they were in a garage,

"Welcome to my den" the tone of the bad movies made her laugh,

"In what trouble i hunted" the woman took the backpack shaking her head and followed him, the kind of house was a huge camper, she had seen one similar to the sea, it was more spacious than it seemed from the outside Chirs put the keys on the shelf and made her way, there was a living room with a sofa that seemed very comfortable a tv the PS and a dvd player, a grass effect carpet as big as the room that made her want to roll, the kitchen corner was essential but there was no lack of coffee, she felt at home as if he were at home

"Do as if you were at your home, Silly" took the backpack from her and leaned on the sofa and smiled and, before Y/N could protest, he put her on his shoulder and headed for another room,

"Come put me down!" she laughed kicking, the man tightened his grip to not let it fall, "I hate being moved like that, i follow you with my legs"

"If you make all this noise they will find us" he answered opening the door of the room, put it on her feet and pushed it on the bed, Y/N began to be nervous started to sit down but Chirs stood above her,

"Christopher Robert Evans what are your intentions?" she asked as the man took off his t-shirt and looked at it with mischievous eyes,

"You are trapped Silly, tell me where you hide my treasure and you will not be hurt" he asked in a bad voice of the old movies, the woman stared at him bewildered and then understood what he meant,

"I do not know what treasure you're talking about, the only things i have with me are in my backpack, take what you want but let me go" tried to play the innocent girl as best she could but she ran away laughing, that situation was too absurd, the man stood up without saying a word and went to take the backpack, opened it and spilled its contents on the bed,

"Here is!! My TREASSSSSURE !! " he shouted victoriously holding the t-shirt Y/N had stolen, turned to the woman who still laughed, "I was sure you would remember this" he said, hugging her,

"I must have confessed for a second you scared me," Y/N replied, taking off shoes and resting comfortably on him, "I would have minded ruining our friendship by putting you out of the game",

"Scared for what?" Chris asked, moving just to stare at her, "Do you really think i could do something like that Silly?"

"I do not believe it but put yourself in my shoes, we've known each other for two days i'm sorry if i do not understand when you're joking" she replied guilty of having had that thought, "Forgive me?",

the man ruffled her hair, "Excuse me, i seem to know you for a lifetime i did not think what it might look like.." he laughed, "..wait a minute, you would have landed?!" asked unconvinced,

"Of course i would have landed you, do you have any doubts?" the woman leaned on her elbow, "I was properly trained",

"If you put it that way..i challenge you!" he said getting out of bed and reaching out to help her get up,

"I think this is not the place to fight, i get dressed and i'll take you to my favorite place" he put on an old overalls and sneakers, turned to her and put a hat on head, "So nobody will do questions if we meet people ", Y/N looked at the mirror, with the official Marvel cap could pass for any intern or secretary and the only person who could know it was Tom, lowered visor over her eyes and went out with Chris,

"My idea of ​​a relaxing day was not just that, i thought more to film and cuddle on the couch" the woman said as they went up a ridge of rock, the day was perfect for walking, she loved the woods and climb with Chris was pleasant, reached the top opened before her eyes a flowered park with benches and wooden tables typical of picnic areas, there was all the space they wanted to fight,

"Here we are Silly, what do we bet?" Chris asked lying on the grass,

"You're the one who's going to be pounded by a woman, you decide the prize" Y/N laugh taking off the sweatshirt, the man laughed

"Let's see, if i win you stay here a couple of days," he said, "In the remote hypothesis that you win instead you will accompany me to the premiere in Italy" the hand to seal the bet,

"Ok" the woman answered, clenching in turn, "I'll have to buy a dress suitable for the evening" mocked her helping him get up, they were facing each other,

"Come on over Captain" Y/N challenged him, the man smiled and moved towards her with head down, put his arms around her shoulders blocking her, the woman put a foot behind Chris's ankle and pushed without effort, the man fell on his back grunting,

"I stumbled , it was just luck" he laughed, getting back on his feet and loading Y/N again, he grabbed her by the neck without too much tightening and pushed with all her weight, the woman gave a couple of steps then took the thumbs of her assailant and twisted too hard, she wanted to beat him not to break his bones, Chris let go at once,

"All ok Sassy?" the woman asked, laughing,

"You do not mind badly to be a girl, if you see me arrive you can prepare the shot" the challenge tone did not escape Y/N who smiled and beckoned to refer back to him,

"Do you want to make it more interesting? Just because you are you allow me to attack behind" even the voice of the woman exuded challenge, turned her back to Chris and waited to make his move, the man came up and tightened his arms around her chest, Y/N folded and took his leg making him lose balance, the two fell laughing, Chris hugged her and with a click the block on the ground,

"And now how do we put Silly?" he said breathlessly while holding her shoulders pressed on the ground, the woman did not try to wriggle, he was much bigger and stronger than her, did what Gian had taught her, waited for him to approach and took the carotid with two fingers clenching, when he saw that was about to lose senses let go, Chris looked at her in amazement,

"Ok ok i give up, i knew that many women attend courses of self-defense, but you seem to have been trained for war" he looked at her smiling almost admiring, lay down next to her and took a breath,

"Gian, the friend who trained me, it is of the idea that all women should know how to defend themselves and the techniques of the army are excellent, more than anything else for self-esteem, when you know what your body can do you feel stronger and consequently become stronger" Y/N answered leaning on him,

"I will enroll my sister in the field of the marines then" laughed tightening her, "I will never use -fightt like a girl- like mockery, if i were an assailant you would have torn me in pieces",

"Nobody will never know" laugh "Let me know the day and what time it takes to pick me up for the premiere," they were lying on the grass talking, it was an amazing sunny day and it was a really nice breeze,

"What do you say we come back? Beginning to get hungry," Chris suggested, getting back on his feet, Y/N nodded, reached out to pull her up and set off to return to base camp, the woman had not noticed the view from the top and was left speechless,

"Chris it's beautiful, i understand why it's your favorite place", she could see the whole forest in its majesty the river crossed it like a silver tongue, could see the base camp and the area where they were shooting, the paparazzi would have gone crazy with joy, the two went quietly talking and laughing,

"I think i understand why we go so well," the woman said, Chris looked at her curiously waving to continue, "We are both of Gemini",

"You say?" the man did not seem convinced,

"It happened to me sometimes to know someone and feel so good with him immediately and in the end i discovered that we were the same sign, it is a kind of empathy" concluded Y/N smiling,

"Now that i think some of the my best friends i'm of my own sign, it's really a strange thing" he replied, taking her by the hand, "Are you telling me that the Gemini recognize each other?!",

"I think so and i do not mind at all" she turned and hugged him , they were almost at the camp when they saw Tom and Rdj training, Y/N was tempted to hide behind on the first tree but it was late they had seen them and were reaching them, tried to keep control and smiled,

"Caught in the act," Chris laughed going to meet friends.

"Hey Evans who is this lady?" Rdj came forward to introduce himself , "Pleasure dear" he said stretching out his hand,

"My pleasure Mr. Downey jr., Y/N" the woman answered, she was thrilled, she followed Rdj for years it was a real honor for her to be in his presence, felt Tom's eyes on her and the butterflies in the stomach for being discovered,

"Mr. Downey was my father, Rdj will be fine" he laughed, shaking her hand, "Can i have the pleasure of introducing you Loki?" he said looking at Tom,

"We already know each other" step towards to embrace her, "It's a pleasure to see you again darling" was smiling as always,

"For me it's a pleasure to see you again, you're in great shape" Y/N smiled back, she wanted to throw arms around his neck and kiss him but just smiled,

"If you do not have much for training, you could join us for lunch," Chris said cheerfully, had no idea what Y/N was passing at that moment,

"Sure we do not bother?" Rdj sly tone, "We do not want to make the third uncomfortable",

"What? We are just friends do not make strange ideas" Chris laughed,"We wait for you ", the man took Y/N and went to the camper,

"Let's see what's in the fridge," he said as soon as they entered, the woman sat trying to keep her emotions in check, she was happy to see Tom again but was not sure could be near him without collapsing,

"Silly help me?" Chris's voice shook from her thoughts, she reached him in the kitchen,

"Of course 'do you have in mind for lunch?” she asked, looking back to the fridge,

“We almost always eat in the field cafeteria, there's not much in the house,” the man replied,

“Make room for me” Y/N laughed pulling out eggs, bacon and cheese, "Tell me you have some pasta and we're fine", the man opened the door above the fridge and pulled out spaghetti,

"Perfect we have everything i need for carbonara, in Rome i would spank if i they saw the bacon but it's the same" she immediately went to work and cut and brown the bacon, prepared the eggs with the cheese and put on the water, Chris looked at her happy,

"I feel like i'm home in Boston with my mother cooking," he whispered hugging her, the woman leaned against him and smiled,

"Insinuating that I'm old?" she asked curiously,

"No i'm saying i feel at home right now" kissed her and set the table in the garden, the woman heard the others had joined them and they were laughing in the garden, she took a breath deep, put a smile on her face and went out to take a drink.

Y/N was fascinated by Rdj no one else could play Iron Man, he WAS Tony Stark, was a charming man, sociable and open and loved to have an audience, the woman returned home to throw the dough, had tears and stomach ache for laughter was passing a dream day, took out the dishes not to overcook the dough, too familiar hands touched her hips,

"I like watching you cook " Tom's voice made her legs tremble, "It's one of the best memories of the holiday from Rice, you dance while you prepare breakfast.."

".. the first morning" the woman finished the sentence, untied the embrace and drained the pasta, "You would pass the dishes.." Tom had preceded, she did the dishes and followed by the man served lunch,

"It looks delicious Y/N" Rdj took a picture at the plate, "I send it to Susan just to entice her "

"Thanks, after Bolognese sauce carbonara is the most Italian thing ever" laughed sitting down,

"For the meat sauce i can testify, it is one of the best things i have ever eaten" Tom added, had lunch chatting , Rdj wanted the recipe of carbonara and Y/N was happy to share it,

"Coffee for all?" Chris asked, getting up, everyone nodded,

"I'll take care of that" the woman standing up and removing the dishes,

"You cooked, be comfortable, you're my guest" the man replied, Y/N was not convinced that an American was able to make an Italian coffee worthy of that name but smiled and passed the dishes, she was alone with Tom, Rdj was on the phone with his wife was explaining the recipe for pasta, smiled looking at him gesturing as if Susan could see him ,

"So you and Chris go there" felt a sort of jealousy in Tom's voice but it was probably her imagination,

"We are friends, he invited me and i accepted" she answered sincerely, "I feel good in his company, it's like home", she wanted to stretch hand and tighten the one of Tom, instead continued to torture her fingers under the table, remained silent until Chris returned with coffee, Y/N was amazed he was really good complimented the man,

"If not it's a problem i think i'll take Y/N and i'll collapse on the couch," Chris said as finished his coffee,

Rdj burst out laughing, "After a similar lunch i'm going to do a run to dispose of, it was a pleasure Y/N" shook her hand and took the way to the hill,

"I think i will follow him" Tom hugged her, "Thanks for lunch dude" greeted and ran after the friend waiting for him, Chris and the woman went into the house and got on the sofa, as Y/N had imagined was soft and enveloping,

"Let's watch a movie Silly?" asked holding the DVD in his hand, the woman nodded, "Mmm something funny..let's see..here it is!" he put the DVD in the player, turned on the TV and lay down hugging Y/N,

"Omg Space Ball!!" the cheerful woman chirped, "It's one of the my favorites!" hugged him more and tried to concentrate only on the film.

She opened her eyes as the credits passed, they had fallen asleep and it was now evening, she saw the sunset from the window, moved slightly to get up from the Chris's arms and went out into the garden to call Rice,

"Hi Lucifer..yes, everything was ok, i returning tomorrow morning i wanted to warn you after the last time do not want you to be worried" laughed hearing the group in the background asking questions, gave a good night and turned off the phone again before returning, Chris had woken up and was making coffee ,

"After dinner i make the return," said passing the cup,

"Actually i would stay if it's all right for you," the woman said drinking coffee, "By the way, great coffee Captain" winked,

"Of course it's okay Silly, i'm happy if you stay, tomorrow i'll take a ride on the set before letting you go back to your friends" was beaming and took her hips making a jump, the two laughed as children, dined on the sofa with a kind of salad mixed made up of everything they found in the fridge, they fought one against the other with the PS,

"This time i beat you Silly, here we are not in a field" Chris tried to make her wrong by tickling,

"Hey it's so wrong!" Y/N shouted while her character was thrown into the air and exploded with a rocket, she had lost three games in a row and Chris strutted for the room,

"After this humiliation let's go to bed that's better" she said turning off the game and the TV, the man pointed the alarm clock and went in the shower that he found already occupied,

"Sorry" said closing the curtain embarrassed, "I swear i did not see anything!",

"When i did the massage in the hotel i was naked, now it's a problem?" Y/N laughed pulling head out of the shower,

"When i reached in the pool you immediately dressed i thought i had problems with nudity.." he replied

"In that case the situation was different. soap my back Sassy" she said throwing the towel, they finished the shower and went to bed, the woman curled next to Chris who held her protective,

"Silly you want to talk?" the friend asked kissing her head, Y/N shook the head, if had opened mouth it would be explode and did not want to end up like this a perfect day, "Do you want to have sex?!",

"You're a stupid Chris" the woman laughed and punched him, heard the friend laugh in turn,

"Hey you never know, even if it would be like doing it with a sister..but if that's what you need i would try to please you!" he said candidly, Y/N clung to him, she wanted to get lost in that hug, "I'm just stupid" she whispered before falling asleep.

[lindoig]

Days 92 to 102 - 27 July to 6 August

Thursday, we headed for Port Hedland, calling in at Eighty Mile Beach on the way – very hot, dusty and windy on the beach, but there were heaps of people in the very full and obviously popular caravan park.  Fishing and the beach seemed to be the only activities and we weren’t into either of them on the day.  We drove just over halfway to Port Hedland, a bit over 300km for the day, and camped in a cleared area a little way off the highway 60km short of Pardoo. Not another bloody sunset……

Friday started with a mini-disaster.  I decided to make a cheese and herb damper for brekky, so we built a fire and used the camp oven we had purchased in Broome specifically for the purpose.  It was my first attempt, a complete experiment with no recipe, but I think the main problem was that the fire was way too hot.  I also suspect the dough was a bit too stolid and maybe we let it cook longer than necessary.  The lump of charcoal that came out was almost axe-proof, but we managed to salvage some of its innards - moderately edible dryish bread that became breakfast once smothered in butter.  No probs – life is a learning experience and next time, I am sure we will do better.

On arrival in Port Hedland, we booked in at the Big 4 Park (I said in an earlier post that I have never liked Big 4s) and they put us on a ‘premium’ site.  What a joke!  It was tiny, simply a small patch of sand, on a corner, with traffic squeezing past us day and night.  I badly bent part of our stabilising gear when I had to jack-knife the van to get it on the site – and that cost us $35 to have it straightened before we could move on anyway.  When we complained that it wasn’t concreted like all the other premium sites, they said it was a gravel site – oops, no gravel.  Oh sorry, it is a grassed site – but no grass this decade.  There were numerous other problems – cracked bowl in the toilet with sewage on the floor, toilets that don’t flush, a dump point with a perished hose that sprayed everywhere and soaked me, no light in the shower, the washing came out dirtier than it went in, etc., etc., etc.  (I made a list of about 20 complaints.)  By the time we decided we had to stay a second night, the office was closed so next day, we read the riot act to them and refused to pay for the second night.  That was when they admitted that our site was supposed to be for a small camper-trailer only – and that they knew about all our other complaints because other people had also complained, but they hadn’t got around to fixing them. We posted a comment on the Big 4 Facebook page (as invited to do) and Heather ended up getting an abusive phone call from their Customer Relations people.  Seems my prejudice against Big 4 may have some substance.

Notwithstanding the Caravan Park, we did get around and saw a few things in the area on the Saturday. We did a harbour cruise conducted by the Seafarers Centre.  It is run by the Anglicans and provides a service for seamen from the bulk carriers and other ships in the mining industry during their short stopovers in Port Hedland while their ships are being loaded.  They collect them from the ships, bring them to shore, take them to the supermarket or other shops, give them internet access and other services along with a package of goodies (lollies, etc.) to take back with them.  We tourists are allowed on the cruise around the harbour as they visit all the ships to collect the seamen – and our tour fees go toward providing the services they deliver – a very neat arrangement all round. We got up very close to lots of things in the harbour that we wouldn’t have seen otherwise and they gave us a really interesting commentary and DVD show before we actually left for the cruise.  Seems like a great service to men - and women - whose life is less than enjoyable and a cause we were happy very to support.

We went to the pub for lunch and drove around much of Port Hedland and out to Finucane Island in the afternoon.  It is a very spread-out town spanning about 20km or more and does a huge volume of shipping.  I counted at least 25 ships on the horizon and they are apparently just the ones in the front line waiting to be filled.  There are two more lines behind that and there are often more than 100 gigantic carriers anchored out there, sitting idle waiting to be filled.  They can only get in and out of the harbour on the high tides and it takes a day and a half to fill a ship so keeping everything running smoothly is critical given the billions of dollars of shipping anchored out there looking for a profitable load. Driving to Finucane Island gave us lots of different aspects of the loading process to look at – we saw more of the giant loaders, the 3km 250,000 tonne trains and all sorts of other massive mysterious plant and infrastructure sitting in the middle of nowhere.  As we drove through the whole Kimberley/Pilbara area, I have been staggered by the number of projects with giant infrastructure sitting out in the middle of the desert - squillions of dollars, maybe even more, all quarantined from we plebs,but hopefully feeding zillions of dollars into our economy - hopefully, if the resources go overseas, not all the profits follow them.

Obviously, iron ore is the main export from the Pilbara, but the world’s second largest area of salt extraction ponds is at Port Hedland and as you drive in and out of town, you pass a massive 50 metre high pile of salt and adjacent loading area – not sure what they do in the monsoon season: maybe they have a big umbrella or maybe, it just all dissolves and runs back into the sea??  And Port Hedland is only one of our salt mines - we have seen at least 2 others that look (to my untrained eye) to be about as big.

There was a small festival in town, presumably in honour of our visit. Leastways, they put on a reasonable fireworks display across from the Caravan Park to wish us well on our journey further south.

We drove to Karratha on Sunday and it was a nice surprise.  Port Hedland didn’t have much to recommend it, at least for us, but Karratha is quite a large town of about 25,000 and a pleasant dormitory area for all the industry surrounding it.

En route to Karratha, we called in at Point Sampson, Wickham, Cossack and Roebourne – in that order despite the geography suggesting the opposite.  We had a fish and chips lunch at the Port Sampson pub and did some shell collecting on the beach afterwards.  We then drove around the port and loading area, but we couldn’t get in to see much – apart from being staggered by its size.  There is not much to at Wickham, mainly workmen’s houses and barracks, but the abandoned town of Cossack was interesting.  We had a walk around some of the old buildings and the wharf area.  There is an annual art competition at Cossack (I think it has the richest or second richest art prize in Australia) and we just happened to call in while it was on – but shortly before it closed for the day.  We then went onto Roebourne, smaller than I imagined, but still a pleasant little town, and then on to Karratha.

We called in at the first caravan place we saw, but it was not very suitable so we rang and booked at another one – and would you believe it, the woman running the place was the same woman who had booked us in at the awful place at Port Hedland. Fortunately, all went smoothly and our problems up there were not mentioned so we set ourselves up in what was really quite a good caravan park.

Monday morning was a slow start, just doing things around the van, dealing with email and getting ourselves a bit better organised.  In the afternoon, we went for a drive to Dampier, some 15 km away on the sea.  We were interested in doing a mine tour so called in to the Dampier Information Centre (the Seafarers Club) but were told that there are no such things.  We had a good look around the town, went to the local lookout, and took a drive out along the Burrup Peninsula to where the port and industrial area is located.  It is only about 15km out there, but there is a huge amount of development there, including an Information Centre to tell the tourists about the whole area and what they are looking at. Alas, we arrived as they were closing for the day, so we retraced our steps and visited Withnell Bay – a little further along the Peninsula.  The road was so bad that we gave up just short of the actual Bay, but it was basically just a marshy mangrove area anyway – but apparently a favourite spot for fishermen. We also called in to Hearson’s Cove: a lovely long beach, sheltered on both ends by long promontories.  On the way back, we went in to Deep Gorge, but it was approaching dark and the few people we met in the parking area were unsure of where the Gorge actually was – they had trekked 2 kilometres in and seen nothing (they took the wrong track as we found out next day) – so we decided to leave that to tomorrow – that would be Tuesday.

Our trip list of birds topped 250 since we left home that day – a mini-milestone.  I also found out that the ‘lumpy�� termite nests I have tried to describe a couple of times are called Cathedral Mounds and they can be up to 8 metres high – and they all are twice as deep underground as they are above ground.  That’s quite a construction project for such tiny workers.  The last termite census conducted by the Bureau established that they have about 8 million workers in the larger mounds, so the workforce is substantial even if the individual workers are small. The mounds all have a nipple on top and the termites apparently use airways in that to maintain a constant cool temperature underground irrespective of how hot it might be above ground.  Maybe their air conditioning technology is better than we humans’.

We got a reasonably early start on Tuesday and headed for the North West Shelf Gas Project Visitors’ Centre that was closing when we arrived the previous day.  It is a really excellent display with loads on information about the project, including a couple of new DVDs showing how the oil and gas is formed and collected underground and how it is extracted, processed and exported by Rio Tinto.  It was all very informative and because we expressed interest, they actually gave us copies of the 2 DVDs and a bit of other material to take with us. It was definitely worth the time spent there!

We had lunch at Hearson’s Cove and the tide was out so we walked a couple of hundred metres out to sea on the wet sand.  That was when Heather got her annoying 20-minute call from Big 4 when she almost hung upon them – she has a lot more patience than I have!  By then, the tide had turned and we had to return to the beach without really discovering anything on our walk out.

We had rung early in the day to find out a bit more about Deep Gorge, including which track to take.  It was really only 3-4 hundred metres in among the huge piles of rocks and there were thousands of ancient aboriginal etchings on the rocks.  Many were not recognisable, but there was obviously a huge artists’ colony there at some point in early history.  The path in is simply a metre-wide line of jagged rocks so we trod carefully and made it there and back without injury.  We had been warned of a lot of snakes in the area including a big grumpy olive python, but we saw none.

And about the landscape/rockscape around here…..  It is quite extraordinary, composed very largely of spinifex country with a few stunted trees and gigantic piles of higgledy-piggledy red rocks, all jumbled together, big and small, all shapes and sizes, some as big as a car, but mostly maybe just car-boot size and smaller.  They are almost completely exposed with few places where enough erosion or wind-blown sand has collected to support plant life.  It is a combination of huge piles of dramatic dark red-brown rock and plains of creamy-grey spinifex – and man! is that prickly!!  Fortunately, the spinifex grows in clumps and it is often not too difficult to tiptoe between the clumps to creep up on a bird or photograph a flower.  Interestingly, as the spinifex plants die, their seeds grow around their perimeters forming quite large fairy rings – or vicious circles, depending on your fancy.

We tried to get to the end of the Burrup Peninsula and drove several kilometres in, but the road was deteriorating rapidly (it started as a narrow, rough, rocky bush track) to the point of impassibility (impossibility?) so we spent some time photographing some painted finches (another first for us) and then headed back to the caravan – and yet another of those sunsets.  There was a BBQ and entertainer on that night, all welcome by donation with proceeds going to Variety (a great children’s charity) so we went along and ate our sausages and tapped or sang along with the entertainer’s songs and jokes.  Three Irishmen went into a pub…..well, they would, wouldn’t they?

Some people at the same table as us told us not to believe what the Seafarers had told us.  There was a tour and they were going on it in a couple of days.  So we rang and booked to go on the same tour as them on Thursday.

Next day, Wednesday, we went for a long loop drive to Python Pool, through the Millstream-Chichester National Park and back to Karratha.  Python Pool is a beautiful big swimming hole at the foot of some massive cliffs – with an obviously massive waterfall during the Wet.  Heather braved it and had a very cold swim, but I guarded her towel and took the photos.  We ate our lunch there and drove on, stopping at several places to look at birds and/or plants.  The people who had told us about the tour had previously spent a couple of weeks camped by the ocean at Cleaverville about 40 clicks north of Karratha and said it was just fantastic!  We decided to check it out on our way back to Karratha, but decided that it was not our scene at all.  It was crowded and unfriendly – one couple had even set up their van in a big area on the top of the hill overlooking the sea and parked their car sideways across the road to prevent anyone else getting in to disturb their solitude. Selfish people!

I had seen a sign for some Plankton Farms 4 kilometres off the road near our caravan park so we went exploring.  Unfortunately, after nearly 4 km, we came to a locked gate with the usual ‘No Admittance’ signage.  In the absence of first hand enquiry, we had to explore the business by Google and it seems that it is a new industry, supplying algae and plankton, mainly to the pharmaceutical industry.

We topped up our larder from the supermarket before reaching the caravan because we knew we would be off the grid for the following few days.

As I said, we did the mine tour on Thursday.  It wasn’t actually a mine tour, but very interesting just the same.  They drove about a dozen of us from Karratha to Roebourne where we were shown a DVD about the mine and loading facilities, in fact quite a lot about the whole Pilbara area, then went out to Point Sampson where we were able to drive right through the mammoth Port Lambert Loading Facility. It was amazing to get within touching distance of so many of the things we had seen in the far distance from our own car a few days earlier.  It is mind-bogglingly massive and all the statistics are off the chart – needless to say, I can’t recall much, but the scale of some of these developments is almost unimaginable.  I think there are 13 separate mines feeding into the stockpiles – massive trains, 65-metre road-trains – even quite a flow of scrap metal trucks/road trains constantly feeding the export markets.  We saw them tipping the train-trucks upside down to empty their few hundred tons of crushed stone onto the miles-long conveyor belts to the stockpiles and from there to the loading machinery.  It is all highly automated with most of the control being effected from Perth, 1300 km away. People in Perth even drive some of the 150-tonne driverless dump-trucks they use.  They are working on driverless trains too, but I understand the TWU has a problem with that.

Our driver and guide was a mine of information and never stopped talking the whole time.  He lives in Roebourne and is a passionate local history and conservation buff and had plenty to say wherever we went.  He took us to Cossack for a cut lunch and a walk around, including the Art Gallery that was then open – then for a drive around Wickham and Roebourne with lots more local facts and fables before we were driven back to Karratha about 1.30pm or so.

We had left our car and van parked at the Visitors’ Centre so had a coffee and topped up our tanks and headed to Pannawonica (love the sound of that).  The ‘caravan park’ there only has 4 sites adjacent to the sports oval and all were occupied so we free-camped in an open gravel area 50 metres further on. Just in time for another glowing sunset!

Friday was Day 100 – and a really great day.  We drove less than 150 km on the day, but took all day to do it.  We stopped numerous times for longer than usual each time looking for birds and photographing many of the roadside flowers. We just moseyed along slowly, stopping often, eventually camping in the middle of nowhere about 4pm – quite early for us. We were itching for a bush camp and this was on the Karratha-Tom Price Road about 53km from the closest turnoff.  It was just a cleared area 50 metres from the road but I think the first car that went past us was not until early next morning. We lit a fire and sat under the stars until it got too cold and we went inside for a really scrumptious meal.  I cooked the rissoles and Heather made a delicious red wine and caramelised onion sauce as well as a cheesy potato bake.  It was a great meal, supported as it was with a bottle of bubbles and a little supplementary red wine.  A wonderful day, a wonderful night: one of the best.

This place was so enjoyable that we decided to simply stay there in the middle of nowhere for an extra day. We kept our fire going all night and next day and made a MUCH more successful damper in the coals for Saturday lunch.  Maybe a bit too hot again – we need to keep practising – but dripping with jam, honey, cream, butter, cheese and the remains of our red wine and caramelised onion sauce, it made for a rather tasty meal – with half the damper left over to form the basis of our evening meal with a tinned meal and a swathe of veges. We sat around the campfire for a couple of hours – another really great day and night.  I reckon only about 15 or 20 cars passed us in the 36 hours we were there and the freedom of being away from everyone and everything was wonderful. The only distraction was the caravan that pulled up right next to us to have their lunch.  The clearing we were in was about 300 metres long, but they chose to park no more than 5 metres from us.  At least they only stayed for an hour – with some broad hints from us about how much we were enjoying the peace and quiet with nobody around!  Sitting by our fire watching the stars and the almost full moon that night attracted a toot from one of the two cars that passed by after dark.

We spent the day blogging, researching our bird and plant books, photographing the many grey-headed honeyeaters and painted finches that surround us, and generally hanging out, just relaxing.  Maybe we should all make time in our lives for regenerative experiences like this.

Sunday saw us back on the road, a little uncertain about exactly where we were, but wanting to call in at Wittenoom.  We had been told in Karratha that the authorities didn’t encourage visitors so they had removed all the directional signs and the road would probably be pretty terrible, but we decided to give it a go anyway.  Turns out we were not actually on the road we thought we were, but it was a superb gravel road that eventually took us to where we wanted to go. It was just a little further on that road and I was a bit concerned about having enough fuel.  We carry 50 litres in jerrycans so we put that in the tank when we got to Wittenoom and decided we had plenty.

Wittenoom is backed by the Hamersley Range and that is truly magnificent.  It is rugged with huge cliffs of rich red rock running down to wide slopes and plains of spinifex – truly remarkable country.  The town itself is supposedly almost deserted – we understood from Karratha and a TV program we saw some time ago that there were only 3 people still there who the authorities had been unable to dislodge, but I reckon at least 4 houses were moderately well-maintained and still in regular, if not constant, use. We drove around and ended up eating our lunch on the edge of town and in the short time we did that, 2 huge road-trains and about 5 or 6 other cars passed us so the road through town is still getting a lot of commercial use (and a bit of tourist traffic), despite all the big government warning signs on all the approach roads.  It is actually a sad little place, heavily vandalised, but obviously still loved by a few souls willing to chance it with all the warnings about potential asbestos-related disease.

Onwards to Tom Price after lunch, driving along the foot of the beautiful Hamersleys.  Close to the Gorge turnoff, the road becomes a series of single lane no-stopping segments with the rocks crowding both sides of the road a mere metre or so away.  They are the starkest red I have seen and I would have loved to stop and look more closely at them and take some photos, but I didn’t want to be caught in a cutting with a massive road-train coming at me from the opposite direction.  The gap between the rocks is so narrow in places, it is hard to imagine a road-train squeezing through, but obviously, they do.

Still cognizant of our fuel situation, we stopped a guy coming out of the Hamersley Gorge access road and asked how far in the road went – I didn’t want to drive 40 kilometres in and out to an unknown destination only to run out of fuel a couple of clicks out of Tom Price.  He assured us that it was only 15 minutes or so in so off we went – and it was barely 5 minutes.  Lo and behold, there is a free Wi-Fi hotspot at the entrance to the Gorge – so we sat in the car in the middle of absolutely nowhere and downloaded 3 days’ worth of emails and dealt with some texts that had been waiting for us to get a signal!  Amazing?

More amazing was the Gorge itself.  We only went to the observation platform above the Gorge – the sign said it was 400 metres down and to allow an hour! Very steep and probably quite beyond us to climb back up – much easier going down. The Gorge is quite narrow with a series of small waterfalls cascading down into quite a large swimming hole at the bottom that let out into another section of the gorge that we couldn’t see. There were a couple of people swimming – and it would probably have been nice – but the rocks were what captured our attention.  The strata is extremely convoluted and has many layers of different colours, all exposed in a craggy cliff across the Gorge from the platform we were on.  The Sun was on it and the colours glowed richly – reds, browns, yellows, black and white.  We just marvelled at it for 20 minutes or so and then drove through to Tom Price where we set up in the caravan park for the night.  Washed a lot of mud off the car and van (we later found that park rules prohibit such heinous practices) and then washed a few days’ dirt off our own bodies.  It is delightful to feel clean after days of feeling your skin almost being sucked dry by the layers of dust covering everything, including us!  I think the dust in the Pilbara gets into everything far more than the dust anywhere else we have been.  Maybe it is finer, maybe the colour just makes it more obvious, but it had leached our skin much more savagely than any other place we have been.

One interesting little thing as we travelled the dusty track was the frequent sound of things rolling across the roof of the car.  At first, we took no notice, not even sure where the sound came from, but it happened quite a lot of times and we figured it was from the roof.  I was concerned that the nuts on the roof bars or roof rack could be coming loose but when I climbed up, there were 20-odd small pebbles up there and it was them that were rolling off from the wind and bouncy road. We figured that passing cars must have thrown up stones that lodged in the stuff we had up on top and gradually shaken down to the roof where they rolled around.  Some lodged between the edge of the roof and the top of the tailgate and crunched and ground paint off when we opened the back of the car. In the end, we decided that the stones were flying up from our own wheels, hitting the sloping front of the van and bouncing forward on to the roof – then rolling off again.  We have a flexible stone-guard, but it is hard to get properly fitted so we don’t always use it – but once fitted, we had no more ‘Rolling Stones’.

[saorbrid-blog]

Every Wednesday I share a review of a book. The book is chosen for me weekly and I cannot refuse the book, I have to read it and I have to review it. And I love doing it. A couple of weeks ago I was handed Marie Kondo’s ‘The Life Changing Magic of Tidying’. Considering it is, in its own way, a self-help book, it was an interesting one to review. Where normally I’d discuss themes, characters, writing styles and my personal feelings towards a book, this time I was a little stuck as there was nothing I was given to observe, analyse or discuss besides Marie Kondo’s actual method of tidying, so why not? I reviewed the book and the review can be found here, this post is my experience with the KonMari Method.

Prior to reading her book, I checked out goodreads to see what others had been saying about the book and I found some of the reviews hilarious – I too was slightly disturbed at the thoughts of my socks having self-esteem issues because I ball them up! As I began reading her book I felt a sense of anger towards Marie Kondo – her writing style was so persuasive. She was convinced her method was a gift from above and her confidence and assurance really bothered me initially, there’s something about self-assured people which just really gets to me. (I’m not jealous..)

Anyhoo, I began to find myself nodding in agreement to the parts where she discussed the different types of hoarders and how, even though you could spend an entire day cleaning and rearranging, the room/house will still end up messy within a week – for as long as I can remember I would spend hours or days working hard on perfecting my bedroom. Growing up we moved quite a bit, so I’ve tried perfecting at least 6 bedrooms of different shapes and sizes, but within a week my floor would be buried under a pile of clothing, shoes and books. Whether it was a box room (like the one I’m in now) or the huge one with the 7 wardrobes (I miss that room), I always found a way to make my bedroom look like the aftermath of a tornado.

Under my bed, before the gutting began.

Before beginning the transformation, Kondo recommends you imagine your ideal lifestyle (there’s a higher chance you’ll rebound if you don’t, apparently), once you’ve visualised that ask yourself why you want to live that kind of lifestyle and when you figure that one out ask yourself why a couple of more times.. “Before you start tidying, look at the lifestyle you aspire to and ask yourself: ‘Why do I want to tidy?’” So that’s exactly what I did. What kind of lifestyle did I want? A positive, relaxing and feminine one. Why? I want to meditate in a peaceful surrounding, somewhere I can light candles and read a book or listen to music and draw, somewhere I can blog and study and research, somewhere I can access my clothes/make up/jewellery without searching through bags and baskets and boxes. Why? To have my own space. Something just for me, a haven. Why? I’m independent and enjoy my own company, my mind tends to race

Clothes EVERYWHERE (never mind what was stowed away in the hot-press and attic)

quite a lot and as many of you who read this post will know, I can’t always control the ups and downs of my life, and really I need somewhere where I know I can wind down undisturbed, but also somewhere that can bring me joy – Then I looked around at the 3 metre x 3 metre room cluttered with everything from shoes older than my siblings to books older than my parents, as well as bags upon bags of clothes – with a decent amount still unworn and with their tags.

    Basically, the KonMari method summed up is this: If it doesn’t make you happy, throw it out. Treat everything as an individual. Feel your clothing, feel your books, and unless it “sparks joy” and you firmly believe it will be used again in the future, discard it. Don’t just dump it though, you must thank it for serving its purpose in your life. I thought I’d feel ridiculous as I did this, but I knew much of what I got rid of would be going to charity so I thanked my old possessions for serving their purpose in my life and wished them luck in fulfilling another purpose in someone else’s life. I’ve read some fairly harsh opinions regarding the method but when you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Keep what makes you happy! By donating the rest you’re sure they will bring joy to someone else.

The KonMari Method begins with the visualisation, then categorising your belongings (sort by category, not location!). Belongings should be categorised and then sub-categorised if needed. The categories are as follows: Clothes, Books, Papers, Miscellaneous items and Sentimental items. Begin to clean by category, clothes first. My bedroom was littered with everything everywhere, I had clothes in bags, boxes, drawers, under my bed, stuffed under things and it was much the same for every other category, nothing really had its own designated area.

Things were left in the most random places.

  I spent 4 hours powering through my all my belongings, putting any miscellaneous items I found in one bag to sort out later, same with any sentimental items, electricals, make up, etc. I was really surprised at how much I’d gotten despite the lack of music playing, which I would normally play loud enough for the neighbours to hear as I tidied my room but KonMari says no. Focus. By half 10 I was lightly banging my head against the wall as I sat under a pile of clothes, books and bags of rubbish, at 11:05 I managed to clear a path from my door to my bed – I wasn’t getting this done in one go.

    I was working the day after I began to tidy, so I didn’t get the chance to continue it until half 6 that evening. Luckily, I got to start off with the papers which pretty much all went into the bag for rubbish. By this time, I had accumulated 2 large bags of bin-worthy rubbish and 3 bags of clothing donations. Next came the misc. items – Komono, as they are referred to – miscellaneous items are anything from CDs, DVDs, passports, stationary, to buttons, cables and make up. The exact range is as follows: This was the category I enjoyed the most, I had soooo many little knick knacks all over my room, some I kept out of guilt, some because I am a hoarder. A horrible, dirty hoarder. They all pretty much went bye-bye anyways. Sentimental items came next – this wasn’t so enjoyable. I won’t lie, a lot of the belongings I had in this category I kept. I can be quite a big softy at times and ended up spending over an hour just going through old photos, letters, notes and gifts and reminiscing. Swear I didn’t cry over how tiny my little brothers and little sister used to be! Though I kept most of what was in the ‘sentimental’ category, I organised them well in a photo album which I can now proudly display!

Finally, I got the chance to store my belongings (discard first, store later). I couldn’t get over how easily I found places for what I had left, now everything I own has its own home in my bedroom and, with exception from a few books, they’re all visible.

‘Appearance’ Area

 My clothes, make up and jewellery are all stored within reach of each other – my ‘appearance’ area. My shoes are all together, my blog folders, iPad, laptop and printer are altogether at my desk – my ‘blog’ area.

blogging/shoe area

  My books are stored under my bed in two drawers, one for study books (psychology, Italian and self-help books) and one for my Spirit & Destiny magazines, stationary and some novels. Sentimental items are stored on my top shelf, a few more books I’d use more often on the second and candles and cutesy decorative things on the bottom shelf. That’s it – that’s my bedroom.

  Before & After

Before, I had clothes balled up on top of each other and about 5 items per hanger, I tried to designate drawers for sub-categories but I never stuck to them until now. Now I have one item of clothing per hanger, separate drawers for underwear, socks, pyjamas, tops and bottoms – and they all fit! Did you know you’re folding your clothes wrong? Yeah, Marie Kondo explains a really good theory as to why we stack them on top of each other when really, we should be stacking them beside each other vertically. It really is way easier to access them. Also, rid yourself of trackies. Loungewear is now considered taboo. Oh right.

Socks also have a specific way to be folded. Do you ball yours up? I did, I always have. Even when I had odd socks, I’d ball them all up together until I found their missing partner. Of course that’s the wrong way to do it though, to store your socks you should put them lying flat on top of each other and roll them from the top towards the toe, storing them upright to leave you with a little swirl (like a cinnamon bun!). Balling up your socks causes the elastic in them to stretch which is why sometimes they roll down. Kondo noted in her book how she longs to tell students she sees with their limpy socks how they should be storing them, so for everyone’s sake just roll them up instead of potato-balling them. By the way, was I the only person who stored my socks and undies together? ‘Cause now I have a separate drawer for my socks and tights and I feel really pretentious but I love it. Tell me I wasn’t the only one who stored them together.. and if there are people out there storing them together – stop. Trust me. Being able to say ‘my sock drawer’ makes you really cool.

How To: Store your socks!

step 2

step 3

cinnamon swirl!

It has been over a month now since I cleared out my room and I’m absolutely delighted to say it’s still just as clean as it was the day I completed it, vacuumed and all. The first thing my Mam noted about it was how bare it was – which is exactly how I wanted it, I just wasn’t fully aware of it. The brightness in my room now is unbelievable, it’s unfortunate positioning left it with a lack of natural lightning but with the light-coloured furniture and bare walls I can make the most of the daylight. Since I was a teenager I had a need to fill up my bedroom walls with posters, quotes, concert tickets, pictures of friends and family and so on, I carried this need with my in this bedroom, behind my bed are some of my favourite photographs hanging up pinterest style, and facing across from where I sleep in my bed was a wall filled with tickets, signs, and political declarations. I still have my photographs up but in time I could replace them with the kinds of pictures which belong on a vision board (therefore this will be my vision wall, always gotta get one up on everyone else..). My opposing wall is completely empty however, bar two decorative quote thingies my Step-Dad picked up for me when I wasn’t feeling the best. I think this wall was the biggest change in my room, it has a calm influence on my bedroom now.

In total, I filled 5 45-litre bags for donating to a local charity and 3 45-litre bags of rubbish. I won’t deny the touch of separation anxiety I felt in the days following the clear out, wondering if I’d been too strict with what I discarded or not but if I genuinely miss an item that much I’ll just go source another one. Thankfully there’s nothing I’m missing, and a couple of days ago I filled a plastic bag with some more donations of bits and bobs that I was unsure of whether I was ready to let go of yet or not.

      I wasn’t lying about the bags 🙂

A part of me still feels like it isn’t going to last, it is genuinely the perfect room for me and I’m fully in love with it, every time I use something I put it back where it belongs and I may or may not have taken to thanking my shoes after a day of wearing them..

Testimonies included in the book state how the tidying has improved people’s lives, I have felt a lot calmer recently and have been more productive with things that I pushed to the bottom of my to-do list – such as fixing up my poor car which has been sitting out the back untouched for over a year! Hopefully not much longer until she’ll be road-worthy again! (Would this be something you’d be interested in following along with? Let me know!) I made jokes in my review about  OCD, but I genuinely recommend this method to everyone. Most of her steps are listed on pinterest, if you just search “KonMari” you’ll find all you need. From my experience, if I had to describe the KonMari Method in one word, it would be ‘relief’. I have a brand new bedroom, the one I have always wanted with a unique space for blogging, a beautiful candle display across from my bed, a proper home for my shoes and a perfect blend of happy yet calming colours. Pity I’m planning on moving into my own place in the near-ish future, but at least then I can apply the method to my own home, having it on point from day one!

So I decided to apply the 'Kon Mari' method to my bedroom... Every Wednesday I share a review of a book. The book is chosen for me weekly and I cannot refuse the book, I have to read it and I have to review it.